THE  LION     HUNTER 


•  THE    MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

MXW  TORE   •    BOSTON  •   CHICAGO  •   DALLAS 
ATLANTA   •    SAN  FBANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Lnmro 

LONDON   •    BOMBAY   •   CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OP  CANADA,  LTD. 

TORONTO 


THE    LION   HUNTER 

BY   RONALEYN   GORDON-GUMMING 

In  the  Days  when  all  South  Africa 
was  Virgin  Hunting  Field 


EDITED  BY 

HORACE  KEPHART 


LOMt 


j&eto  got* 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

1922 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


COPYRIGHT,  1913 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 


All  rights  reserved 


FERRIS 

PBINT1NC  COMPANY 
NEW  YOHK  CITY 


INTRODUCTION 

It  was  in  the  second  quarter  of  the  nineteenth 
century  that  British  sportsmen  began  to  make 
those  long  and  arduous  journeys  after  noble  game 
that  ever  since  have  been  the  aspiration  of  rifle- 
men throughout  the  world.  At  that  period,  in  both 
hemispheres,  the  herbivorae  swarmed  over  the  plains 
in  countless  thousands,  and  beasts  of  prey  had  not 
yet  learned  to  fear  the  flash  of  firearms: 

South  Africa  especially  was  a  paradise  for  hun- 
ters. The  late  William  Cotton  Oswell  has  given  a 
vivid  picture  of  the  multitudes  of  wild  animals  that 
enjoyed  undisturbed  seclusion  in  South  Africa 
when  he  and  Gordon-Gumming  hunted  there,  some 
several  years  ago. 

"  On  the  plains  between  the  Orange  and  Molopo 
Rivers,  springbucks  were  met  with  in  vast  herds. 
For  an  hour's  march  with  the  wagons  —  say  two 
miles  and  a  quarter  —  I  once  saw  them  thicker 
than  I  ever  saw  sheep ;  they  were  to  be  counted  only 
by  tens  of  thousands.  When  we  reached  the 
Molopo  seven  different  kinds  of  animals  were  within 
view  —  some,  especially  the  quaggas  and  the  buf- 
fi 


2129949 


6  INTRODUCTION 

f aloes,  in  large  herds  —  springbucks,  hartebeests, 
etc.,  filling  in  the  picture ;  together  there  could  not 
have  been  fewer  than  three  thousand.  Fifteen  miles 
beyond  the  Molopo  to  the  north,  in  the  well  wooded 
and  watered  valley  of  the  Ba-Katla,  rhinoceros 
and  giraffe  were  abundant.  Indeed  it  was  so  full 
of  game  of  all  kinds  that  it  put  me  in  mind  of  the 
children's  picture  of  Adam  naming  the  beasts  in 
the  garden  of  Eden  —  more  animals  than  bushes. 
Eight  or  ten  days  from  Lake  Kamadon  I  came 
upon  a  herd  of  at  least  four  hundred  elephants 
standing  drowsily  in  the  shade  of  detached  clumps 
of  mimosa  trees.  As  far  as  the  eye  could  reach 
in  a  fairly  open  country  there  was  nothing  but 
elephants.  I  do  not  mean  in  serried  masses,  but 
in  small  groups.  I  may  put  the  abundance  of 
game  in  some  way  intelligibly  if  I  say  that  in  most 
parts,  with  horses,  one  gun  could  easily  have  kept 
eight  hundred  men  —  six  hundred  we  tried  —  fat- 
tened and  supplied  with  a  store  sufficient  to  last  for 
months." 

(In  the  case  here  alluded  to,  Oswell  set  out  to 
provision  six  hundred  starving  natives.  In  one 
day  there  fell  to  his  gun  fourteen  hippopotami, 
two  large  bull  elephants,  a  giraffe,  and  a  quagga, 
from  which  were  stripped  and  dried  over  60,000 
pounds  of  meat.) 

Among  the  mighty  hunters   of  this   Arcadian 


INTRODUCTION  7 

epoch  none  achieved  greater  celebrity  than  Ron- 
aleyn  Gordon-Gumming,  subsequently  known  every- 
where as  "  the  lion  hunter."  After  five  years  of 
continuous  forays  amongst  the  big  game  of  South 
Africa,  which  led  him  into  regions  never  before 
entered  by  white  men,  this  intrepid  and  persistent 
Highlander  freighted  a  ship  with  his  trophies  of 
the  chase,  made  of  them  a  museum  that  was  fa- 
mous throughout  England,  and  became  the  social 
lion  of  the  season.  He  published  a  narrative  of 
his  adventures  that  had  an  immense  sale  wherever 
English  was  read,  and  which  was  translated  under 
the  eye  of  Alexandre  Dumas  to  form  part  of  the 
composite  (Euvres  compUtes  of  that  distinguished 
writer. 

Cumming's  "  Five  Years'  Hunting  Adventures 
in  South  Africa  "  is  little  more  than  a  diary,  simple 
and  straightforward,  with  no  conscious  attempt  at 
picturesque  description  or  charm  of  style.  In  the 
dedication  to  his  kinsman,  the  Duke  of  Argyll,  the 
author  says :  "  My  volumes  lay  claim  to  no  other 
merit  than  that  of  faithful  narration  of  facts  as 
they  occurred ;  and  having  been  written  far  away 
from  literary  appliances,  and  often  on  occasions 
when  the  cravings  of  hunger  were  a  more  pressing 
consideration  than  the  graces  of  composition,  I 
trust  to  your  indulgence  to  overlook  in  the  success 
of  my  rifle  the  failure  of  my  pen." 


8  INTRODUCTION 

The  original  work  is  diffuse,  and  many  of  its 
pages  are  no  more  than  a  gruesome  and  tiresome 
catalogue  of  slaughter.  I  have  here  selected  the 
best  parts  of  the  two  volumes,  without  changing 
the  text,  and  offer  this  abridgement  under  title  of 
"  The  Lion  Hunter,"  taken  from  the  author's  own 
soubriquet. 

In  reading  this  narrative,  one  should  make  al- 
lowance for  the  time  and  the  environment  in  which 
Gordon-Gumming  was  trained.  By  his  own  naive 
admission  he  often  was  guilty  of  conduct  that  we 
of  today  would  deem  unsportsmanlike  and  brutal. 
Galloping,  after  a  herd  of  blesbucks,  he  fired  shot 
after  shot  at  random  into  their  compact  mass, 
wounding  at  least  a  dozen  without  bagging  a  single 
animal.  The  story,  in  chapter  V,  that  he  cynically 
called  "  Tete-a-tete  with  a  wounded  elephant,"  in 
which  he  tested  the  vulnerability  of  a  great  bull 
that  was  crippled  and  helpless,  is  outrageous. 
Yet  we  should  bear  in  mind  that  the  rifles  of  that 
time  were  of  very  inferior  power,  and  that  a  hunter 
nearly  always  risked  his  own  life  in  attacking  one 
of  the  giant  pachyderms:  hence  a  knowledge  of 
the  beast's  vulnerable  points  was  essential.  In 
those  days  of  round  bullets  an  elephant  seldom 
fell  dead  until  hit  by  from  ten  to  twenty  shots. 
Out  of  one  hundred  and  five  killed  by  Gordon- 
Gumming  only  one  succumbed  to  a  single  shot. 


INTRODUCTION  9 

One  old  bull  withstood  thirty-five  rounds  from  a 
two-groove  rifle  (presumably  of  ten-bore),  then 
five  more  from  a  ponderous  Dutch  gun  of  six  balls 
to  the  pound,  whereon  it  died  slowly.  Another  did 
not  fall  until  it  had  received  twenty-nine  bullets, 
"  twenty-seven  of  these  being  in  a  very  correct 
part."  Gumming  fought  another  "  from  half  past 
eleven  till  the  sun  was  under,  when  his  tough  old 
spirit  fled,  and  the  venerable  monarch  of  the  for- 
est fell,  pierced  with  fifty-seven  balls." 

Our  author  was  a  prototype  of  a  byegone  age, 
when  game  was  so  abundant  that  nobody  dreamed 
it  might  be  exterminated,  and  when  the  sufferings 
of  wild  beasts  were  commonly  regarded  with  little 
more  compassion  than  we  bestow  upon  a  worm 
trodden  in  the  garden.  Sporting  ethics,  as  we  un- 
derstand the  term,  was  a  sentiment  still  unborn. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  fain  must  admire  the 
pluck  and  preseverance  of  one  who,  without  pre- 
vious experience  in  trekking,  bored  his  way  coolly 
into  unknown  Africa  with  no  companions  but  a  few 
cowardly  black  drunkards ;  and  it  is  "  hats  off  "  to 
the  more  than  gladiatorial  courage  of  the  hunter 
who  stripped  and  plunged  into  a  river  that  was 
alive  with  crocodiles,  seized  a  wounded  and  frantic 
hippopotamus  by  the  tail,  cut  a  hand-hold  with 
his  knife  in  the  thick  skin  of  its  rump,  and  so,  by 
great  exertions,  gradually  steered  it  ashore. 


10  INTRODUCTION 

Ronaleyn  George  Gordon-Gumming  was  born  in 
the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  March  15,  1820.  He 
was  the  second  son  of  Sir  William  Gordon-Cum- 
ming,  second  baronet  of  Altyre  and  Gordonstown, 
Elginshire.  His  passion  for  the  chase  was  inborn. 
Even  before  he  went  to  Eton  to  complete  his  stud- 
ies, the  boy's  room  was  filled  with  hunting  trophies 
and  objects  of  natural  history.  Afterwards  his 
time  was  spent  mostly  in  fishing  and  shooting,  or 
in  collecting  birds'  eggs,  of  which  "  I  had,"  says 
he,  "  in  my  possession  one  of  the  finest  collections 
in  Great  Britain,  amassed  with  much  toil  and  dan- 
ger. I  have  descended  most  of  the  loftiest  preci- 
pices in  the  central  Highlands  of  Scotland,  and 
along  the  seashore,  with  a  rope  around  my  waist, 
in  quest  of  the  eggs  of  the  various  eagles  and 
falcons  which  have  their  eyries  in  those  almost  in- 
accessible situations."  Again  he  admits  that  "  sal- 
mon-fishing and  deer-stalking  were  my  favorite 
amusements  ;  and  during  these  early  wanderings  by 
wood  and  stream,  the  strong  love  of  sport  and 
admiration  of  nature  in  her  wildest  and  most  at- 
tractive forms  became  with  me  an  all-absorbing 
feeling,  and  my  greatest  possible  en j  oyment  was  to 
pass  whole  days,  and  many  a  summer  night,  in 
solitude,  where,  undisturbed,  I  might  contemplate 
the  silent  grandeur  of  the  forest  and  the  ever  vary- 
ing beauty  of  the  scenes  around." 


INTRODUCTION  11 

In  1838  he  entered  the  East  India  Company's 
service  as  a  cornet  in  the  Madras  Light  Cavalry. 
On  the  voyage  out  he  touched  at  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  and  here  had  his  first  taste  of  South  African 
sport.  In  India  he  hunted  tigers,  buffaloes,  and 
elephants.  As  the  climate  of  the  East  did  not 
agree  with  him,  he  resigned  his  commission,  in 
1840,  returned  to  his  native  Highlands,  and  re- 
sumed his  old  pastime  of  deer-stalking  in  the  for- 
ests of  Moray.  But  he  who  had  experienced  no- 
bler sport  found  "  the  life  of  the  wild  hunter  so 
far  preferable  to  that  of  the  mere  sportsman  "  that 
he  resolved  to  try  America,  and  so  obtained  an 
ensigncy  in  the  Royal  Veteran  Newfoundland  Com- 
panies. He  soon  learned,  however,  that  there  were 
no  opportunities  to  go  after  the  moose  and  bison 
that  he  desired,  and  few  even  to  hunt  the  caribou. 
Thereupon  he  exchanged,  in  1843,  into  the  Cape 
Mounted  Rifles,  and  once  more  found  himself  in 
South  Africa. 

But  a  soldier's  life  was  too  tame  for  so  ardent 
a  spirit.  He  dreamed  of  the  rich  hunting-grounds 
of  the  far  interior,  and  of  following  the  chase 
northward  into  lands  where  no  white  man  had  ever 
been.  Toward  the  close  of  the  year  he  sold  out 
his  commission,  freighted  an  enormous  Cape  wagon 
with  three  or  four  tons  of  trading  goods  and  hunt- 
ing equipment,  hired  a  few  blacks  to  man  his  cara- 


12  INTRODUCTION 

van,  and  set  forth  from  Grahamstown  on  the  23d 
of  October,  1843,  for  his  promised  land. 

Difficulties  beset  the  expedition  from  the  start. 
His  wagon  stuck  so  deeply  in  the  mud  that  twenty- 
six  oxen  could  not  budge  it  an  inch.  He  had  to 
unload  and  dig  it  out.  At  times  the  ponderous 
vehicle  was  nearly  wrecked.  His  knowledge  of 
African  game  was  so  slight  that  once,  when  stalk- 
ing at  night  what  he  supposed  was  a  pair  of  quag- 
gas,  he  shot  them  both  and  then  found  that  he  had 
killed  the  wagon-team  of  a  neighboring  Dutch- 
man! Yet  no  blunder  or  misadventure  could 
quench  the  Highlander's  ardor.  Pushing  on  past 
the  Great  Fish  River,  he  soon  arrived  in  the  land 
of  the  exquisitely  graceful  little  antelope  called 
springbuck.  On  the  flats  near  the  Brak  River 
he  came  up  with  herds  of  wildebeests,  with  which 
he  had  glorious  sport.  He  chased  the  beautiful 
oryx,  which  was  said  never  to  drink  water,  and 
which  could  not  be  stalked  or  driven  into  ambush. 
Upon  the  plains  of  the  Karroo  he  saw  a  migration 
of  springbucks  in  which  hundreds  of  thousands 
were  at  one  time  within  the  compass  of  his  vision. 
Beyond  the  Great  Orange  River  he  hunted  wilde- 
beests, oryxes,  and  zebras.  At  the  Vaal  he  came 
upon  the  koodoo  and  the  roan  antelope.  In  Feb- 
ruary he  arrived  at  the  Riet  River,  and  here  he 


INTRODUCTION  13 

first  heard  the  lion's  roar.  It  is  at  this  point  that 
we  take  up  his  narrative  in  the  following  pages. 

Like  all  other  narrators  of  mighty  adventures, 
Gordon-Gumming  was  accused  of  exaggeration  by 
stay-at-home  folk  who  suspect  everything  that  is 
beyond  the  range  of  their  favorite  authors  and 
their  own  narrow  experiences.  A  museum  natural- 
ist, who  never  had  seen  a  live  hippopotamus,  asked : 
"  Who  can  believe  what  a  man  writes  who  makes 
the  hippopotamus  spout  like  a  whale?"  But  the 
men  who  knew  South  Africa  offered  no  criticisms. 
No  less  an  authority  than  David  Livingstone,  who 
knew  him  well,  declared  that  "  I  have  no  hesitation 
in  saying  that  Mr.  Cumming's  book  conveys  a 
truthful  idea  of  South  African  hunting." 

The  lion  hunter  was  a  man  of  unusual  personal- 
ity. He  is  described  as  "  remarkable  for  his  great 
height  and  massive  symmetry  of  build.  With 
handsome  Highland  features  and  the  eye  of  an 
eagle,  he  was  physically  a  king  of  men."  Inured 
from  childhood  to  the  hardships  of  the  hills,  he 
disdained  comfort  in  camp  and  field.  On  his  first 
African  expedition  he  astonished  the  Boers  by 
hunting  in  the  wild  garb  of  a  native  Highlander, 
bare  legged,  and  with  sleeves  rolled  to  the  arm- 
pits, nor  would  he  discard  it  until  his  kilt  was 
torn  to  tatters  by  the  wait-a-bit  thorns.  Even 


14  INTRODUCTION 

when  he  donned  leather  breeches  he  had  them  shorn 
off  at  the  knees,  and  at  times  he  went  almost  naked. 
How  such  a  costume  served  him  may  be  judged 
from  the  following  incident: 

"  Having  explored  the  country  to  a  considera- 
ble distance,  in  the  course  of  which  we  fell  in  with 
four  sassabines  and  a  troop  of  hartebeests,  I  re- 
solved to  make  for  home,  as  the  darkening  sky 
and  distant  thunder  to  the  southward  threatened 
a  heavy  storm.  I  had  not  long,  however,  deter- 
mined on  returning,  when  the  wind,  which  had  been 
out  of  the  north,  suddenly  veered  round,  and  blew 
hard  from  the  south.  In  less  than  half  an  hour 
the  rain  descended  in  torrents,  the  wind  blew  ex- 
tremely cold,  and  the  rain  beat  right  in  my  face ; 
the  peals  of  thunder  were  most  appalling,  the  most 
fearful,  I  think,  I  had  ever  heard,  the  forked  light- 
ning dancing  above  and  around  me  with  such  vivid- 
ness as  to  pain  my  eyes:  I  thought  every  moment 
would  be  my  last.  I  shifted  my  saddle  from  *  Sun- 
day '  to  '  The  Cow,'  and  we  pricked  along  at  a 
smart  pace.  We  were  entering  a  thicket  of  thorny 
bushes,  when  a  very  large  gray-looking  antelope 
stood  up  under  one  of  them.  I  could  not  see  his 
head,  but  I  at  once  knew  that  it  was  the  long- 
sought-for  roan  antelope,  or  bastard  gemsbok. 
Carollus  quickly  handed  me  my  little  Moore  rifle, 
secure  from  the  pelting  storm  in  one  of  Mr.  Hugh 


INTRODUCTION  15 

Snowie's  patent  water-proof  covers.  The  noble 
buck  now  bounded  forth,  a  superb  old  male,  carry- 
ing a  pair  of  grand  cimeter-shaped  horns.  He 
stood  nearly  five  feet  high  at  the  shoulder.  *  The 
Cow  '  knew  well  what  he  had  to  do,  and  set  off 
after  him  with  right  good  will  over  a  most  imprac- 
ticable country.  It  was  a  succession  of  masses  of 
adamantine  rock  and  stone,  and  dense  bushes  with 
thorns  on  the  boat-hook  principle.  In  a  few  min- 
utes my  legs  below  the  knee  were  a  mass  of  blood, 
and  my  shirt,  my  only  covering,  was  flying  in 
streamers  from  my  waist.  The  old  buck  at  first 
got  a  little  ahead,  but  presently,  the  ground  im- 
proving, I  gained  upon  him,  and  after  a  sharp 
burst  of  about  two  miles  we  commenced  ascending 
a  slight  acclivity,  when  he  suddenly  faced  about 
and  stood  at  bay,  eyeing  me  with  glowing  eyes  and 
a  look  of  defiance.  This  was  to  me  a  joyful  mo- 
ment. The  buck  I  had  for  many  years  heard  of 
and  longed  to  meet  now  stood  at  bay  within  forty 
yards  of  me.  I  dismounted,  and,  drawing  my  rifle 
from  its  holster,  sent  a  bullet  through  his  shoulder, 
upon  which  he  cantered  a  short  distance  and  lay 
down  beside  a  bush.  On  my  approaching  he  en- 
deavored to  charge,  but  his  strength  failed  him. 
I  then  gave  him  a  second  shot  in  the  neck,  just 
where  I  always  cut  off  the  head.  On  receiving  it 
he  rolled  over,  and,  stretching  his  limbs,  closed  his 


16  INTRODUCTION 

eyes  upon  the  storm,  which  all  this  time  raged  with 
increasing  severity. 

"  I  felt  extremely  cold.  I  had  lost  my  shirt  in 
the  chase,  and  all  that  was  left  me  was  my  shoes 
and  leather  knee-breeches.  I  nevertheless  took  some 
time  to  inspect  the  beautiful  and  rare  antelope 
which  I  had  been  fortunate  enough  to  capture.  He 
proved  to  be  a  first-rate  specimen:  his  horns  were 
extremely  rough  and  finely  knotted.  I  now  pro- 
ceeded to  cut  off  his  head  and  '  gralloched '  * 
him,  all  of  which  I  accomplished  before  my  follow- 
ers came  up.  They  stumbled  on  me  by  chance, 
having  lost  sight  of  me  in  the  denseness  of  the 
storm." 

When  Gumming  returned  to  London,  and  was 
exhibiting  his  museum,  "  he  preserved  a  barbaric 
indifference  to  conventionalities,  and  astonished 
Regent  Street  by  promenading  in  a  sailor's  blue 
shirt,  Highland  kilt,  and  a  belt  garnished  with 
knives  and  pistols,  while  his  hair,  which  rivalled 
Absalom's,  was  confined  in  a  bag  of  silk  netting." 

Gumming  displayed  his  trophies  at  the  Great 
Exhibition  in  1851,  and  then,  for  several  years, 
went  about  the  country  exhibiting  and  lecturing, 
whereby  he  made  considerable  money.  In  1858  he 
established  himself  on  the  Caledonian  Canal,  where 
his  museum  was  an  attraction  to  all  tourists.  He 
*  Butchered. 


INTRODUCTION  17 

seems  to  have  had  a  premonition  of  impending 
death,  for,  shortly  before  his  demise,  he  ordered 
a  coffin  and  made  his  will.  He  died  at  Fort  Au- 
gustus on  the  24th  of  March,  1866. 

HORACE  KEPHART. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGB 

I     LIONS 23 

II     LIONS. —  BUFFALOES. —  RHINOCEROS   .      .  56 

III     GIRAFFES. —  RHINOCEROS 83 

IV     GIRAFFES. —  ELEPHANTS 113 

V     ELEPHANTS 152 

VI     ELEPHANTS 178 

VII     ELEPHANTS. —    LIONS. —    RHINOCEROS. — 

BUFFALOES 198 

VIII     BUFFALOES. —  LIONS. —  HIPPOPOTAMI        .  231 

IX     HIPPOPOTAMI. —  ELEPHANTS. —  LIONS      .  261 

X     LIONS. —  HIPPOPOTAMI. —  ELEPHANTS      .  285 

XI     ELEPHANTS 309 

XII     LIONS. —  BUFFALOES 333 

XIII     LIONS. —  BUFFALOES. —  GIRAFFES              .  355 


THE  LION     HUNTER 


THE  LION  HUNTER 


CHAPTER  I 

BLESBOKS I/IONS 

WE  inspanned  before  the  dawn  of  day 
on  the  23d  of  February,  1844,  and 
after  steering  east  and  by  north  for 
a  distance  of  about  twelve  miles,  we  found  ourselves 
on  the  southern  bank  of  the  Riet  River,  where  we 
outspanned.  Along  the  banks,  both  above  and  be- 
low me,  several  families  of  the  nomade  Boers  were 
encamped  with  their  tents  and  wagons.  Their 
overgrown  flocks  and  herds  were  grazing  on  the 
plains  and  grassy  hill  sides  around.  Five  of  these 
Boers  presently  came  up  to  my  wagons,  and  drank 
coffee  with  me.  They  seemed  much  amused  with 
the  details  of  my  sporting  adventures,  which  I  was 
now  able  to  give  them  in  broken  Dutch,  in  which 
language,  from  lately  hearing  no  other  spoken,  I 
was  daily  becoming  more  proficient. 

On  learning  that  I  had  not  as  yet  enjoyed  any 
23 


24  THE  LION  HUNTER 

blesbok  shooting,  they  said  they  were  certain  I 
should  be  delighted  with  the  sport.  The  borders 
of  the  country  inhabited  by  the  blesboks  they 
stated  to  be  about  four  days  distant  in  a  northeast- 
erly direction,  and  that,  on  reaching  it,  I  should 
fall  in  with  those  antelopes  in  countless  herds,  along 
with  black  wildebeest,  springbok,  and  other  game. 
The  Boers  supplied  me  liberally  with  milk.  In  the 
height  of  the  day  we  all  bathed  in  the  Riet  River, 
and  in  the  afternoon  I  continued  my  journey  east- 
ward. The  breadth  of  the  Riet  River  here  is  about 
thirty  yards.  It  rises  about  one  hundred  miles  to 
the  eastward,  and,  flowing  westerly,  joins  the  Vaal 
River  opposite  Campbellsdorp. 

On  the  third  day  after  making  the  Riet  River  we 
crossed  below  a  very  picturesque  waterfall,  and  re- 
sumed our  march  along  its  northern  bank.  The 
day  was  cool  and  pleasant,  the  sky  overcast;  the 
hot  days  of  summer  were  now  past,  and  the  weather 
was  most  enjoyable.  Continuing  my  march  in  the 
afternoon,  I  left  the  Riet  River  on  my  right,  and 
held  on  through  an  open,  sandy  country  richly  cov- 
ered with  abundance  of  sweet  grass,  and  intersected 
by  mountain  ranges  of  very  considerable  extent. 
At  sunset  I  encamped  beside  a  Boer's  farm,  who 
received  me  hospitably,  and  asked  me  to  dine  with 
him. 

During  dinner,  according  to  the  custom  of  the 


BLESBOKS  — LIONS  25 

Boers,  he  pestered  me  with  a  thousand  questions, 
such  as,  What  was  my  nation?  Where  was  I 
from?  Where  was  I  bound  for?  Why  I  traveled 
about  alone  in  such  manner?  Where  was  my 
farm?  Were  my  father  and  mother  living?  How 
many  brothers  and  sisters  I  had?  Was  I  married? 
And  had  I  never  been  married  in  the  whole  course 
of  my  life?  On  my  replying  in  the  negative  to 
this  last  question,  the  Boer  seemed  petrified  with 
astonishment,  and  the  family  gazed  at  one  another 
in  utter  amazement. 

On  the  farm  was  a  fine  specimen  of  the  African 
wild  boar,  which  was  perfectly  tame,  and  took  veg- 
etables from  the  hands  of  the  children.  On  the 
following  day  I  performed  two  long  marches,  and 
again  halted  on  the  farm  of  a  Boer,  whose  name 
was  Potcheter.  I  found  this  man  particularly  bit- 
ter against  the  government.  On  my  going  up  to 
him  to  inquire  where  I  should  outspan,  he  was  very 
surly,  and  would  scarcely  deign  to  speak  to  me. 
Of  this,  however,  I  took  no  notice,  but  took  the  lib- 
erty of  informing  him  that  when  I  had  outspanned 
I  should  come  up  to  the  house  and  make  the  ac- 
quaintance of  Mrs.  Potcheter.  As  I  wheeled  about 
and  walked  away  from  him,  I  overheard  him  re- 
mark to  three  other  gruff-looking  Boers  who  stood 
beside  him  that  I  was  "  a  verdomd  Englishman." 

Notwithstanding  this  cold  reception,  on  return- 


26  THE  LION  HUNTER 

ing  to  the  house  I  soon  managed  to  get  into  their 
good  graces,  and  took  dinner  with  them.  During 
dinner  the  conversation  turned  on  politics,  when  a 
keen  discussion  arose  concerning  the  present  ad- 
ministration of  the  government.  This  being  at  all 
times  a  disagreeable  subject,  I  thought  it  time  to 
change  the  conversation  to  sporting  subjects,  in 
which  the  Boers  always  take  intense  interest.  I 
accordingly  mentioned  to  one  of  the  young  ladies 
who  sat  next  to  me  that  I  had  in  my  wagon  a  large 
work  containing  engravings  of  all  the  most  inter- 
esting animals  in  the  world,  on  which  she  instantly 
expressed  a  strong  desire  to  see  it.  I  then  pro- 
duced my  "  Museum  of  Animated  Nature,"  which 
never  failed  to  enchant  the  Boers,  and  it  put  an  end 
to  all  political  discussions,  shooting  and  wild  ani- 
mals engrossing  the  conversation  during  the  rest 
of  the  evening. 

These  Boers  informed  me  that  I  should  see  herds 
of  blesboks  on  the  following  day.  They  also  stated 
that  lions  frequented  the  bushy  mountain  ranges 
which  look  down  upon  the  plains  frequented  by  the 
blesboks,  and  they  mentioned  that  a  considerable 
party  of  Boers  had  mustered  that  day  upon  a  farm 
a  few  miles  in  advance,  to  hunt  a  troop  of  lions 
which  had  killed  some  horses  on  the  preceding  day. 
From  the  conversation  which  I  overheard  among 
themselves,  I  learned  that  a  war  was  brewing  be- 


BLESBOKS  — LIONS  27 

tween  the  emigrant  Boers  on  the  northern  bank  of 
the  Orange  River,  and  the  Bastard  and  Griqua 
tribes.  The  rumor  of  this  war  threw  my  follow- 
ers, who  also  heard  the  news  from  the  servants  of 
the  Boers,  into  a  state  of  great  alarm.  I  resolved, 
however,  that  my  movements  should  not  be  influ- 
enced by  these  reports. 

At  an  early  hour  on  the  following  morning  a 
young  Boer  rode  up  to  the  farm,  and  informed  us 
that  the  party  who  had  been  lion-hunting  on  the 
preceding  day  had  bagged  two  fine  lions,  a  male 
and  female.  As  the  farm  lay  directly  in  my  line 
of  march,  I  mounted  Colesberg,  and,  directing  my 
followers  to  follow  with  the  wagons,  I  rode  hard 
for  the  farm,  to  inspect  the  noble  game.  On  my 
way  thither  I  met  a  horse-wagon,  drawn  by  eight 
horses,  containing  some  of  the  party  who  had 
gathered  for  the  battue.  Arriving  on  the  farm,  I 
found  the  lion  and  lioness  laid  out  on  the  grass  in 
front  of  the  house,  and  the  Boers'  Hottentots  busy 
skinning  them.  Both  lions  were  riddled  with  balls, 
and  their  heads  were  shot  all  to  pieces.  This  is 
generally  the  way  in  which  the  Boers  serve  their 
lions  after  they  have  killed  them,  fearing  to  ap- 
proach, though  dead,  until  they  have  expended  a 
further  supply  of  ammunition.  A  Hottentot  is 
then  ordered  to  approach  and  throw  a  stone  at 
him ;  the  Boers  then  ask  if  he  is  dead,  and  on  the 


28  THE  LION  HUNTER 

Hottentot  replying,  "  Like  so,  baas,"  he  is  ordered 
to  pull  him  by  the  tail  before  the  hunters  will  ven- 
ture to  approach. 

My  little  Bushman  informed  me  that  he  had 
often  been  out  lion-hunting  during  his  captivity 
with  the  Boers.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  a  Boer 
who  had  dismounted  from  his  horse  to  fire,  was 
dashed  to  the  ground  by  the  lion  before  he  could 
regain  his  saddle.  The  brute,  however,  did  not 
injure  him,  but  merely  stood  over  him,  lashing  his 
tail,  and  growling  at  the  rest  of  the  party,  who 
had  galloped  to  a  distance  in  the  utmost  consterna- 
tion, and,  instead  of  approaching  within  easy  shot 
of  the  lion,  to  the  rescue  of  their  comrade,  opened 
their  fire  upon  him  from  a  great  distance,  the  con- 
sequence of  which  sportsman-like  proceeding  was, 
that  they  missed  the  lion,  and  shot  their  comrade 
dead  on  the  spot.  The  lion  presently  retreated, 
and,  none  daring  to  follow  him,  he  escaped. 

The  Boer  on  whose  farm  I  had  arrived  was  a  tall, 
powerful,  manly-looking  fellow.  He  informed  me 
that  he  was  a  Dane.  He  was  in  great  distress 
about  two  favorite  dogs  which  the  lions  had  killed 
during  the  attack  on  the. preceding  day.  Three 
more  were  badly  wounded,  and  their  recovery 
seemed  doubtful.  He  confirmed  the  reports  of  an 
impending  war  between  the  Boers  and  Griquas, 
which  I  had  previously  heard,  and  he  asked  me  if 


BLESBOKS  — LIONS  29 

I  was  not  afraid,  in  times  of  war,  to  remain  hunt- 
ing, with  only  a  few  followers,  in  the  wilderness. 

Being  anxious  to  commence  my  operations 
against  the  blesboks,  I  resumed  my  march  shortly 
after  mid-day.  On  taking  leave,  the  Dane  pre- 
sented me  with  some  meal  and  a  couple  of  loaves 
of  bread,  a  luxury  to  which  I  had  been  an  utter 
stranger  for  many  months,  and  which,  together 
with  vegetables,  I  may  further  add,  I  hardly  ever 
tasted  during  the  five  hunting  expeditions  which  I 
performed  in  South  Africa.  Another  short  march 
in  a  northeasterly  direction  brought  me  to  the 
western  borders  of  the  boundless  regions  inhabited 
by  the  blesboks.  I  drew  up  my  wagons  beside  a 
vley  of  rain  water,  in  open  country,  the  plains  be- 
fore me  being  adorned  with  herds  of  black  wilde- 
beest, springbok,  and  blesbok. 

I  had  now  reached  the  borders  of  a  country  dif- 
fering entirely  from  any  I  had  hitherto  seen.  The 
sweet  grass,  which  had  heretofore  been  so  abun- 
dant, became  very  scarce,  being  succeeded  by  short, 
crisp,  sour  pasturage,  which  my  cattle  and  horses 
refused  to  eat.  A  supply  of  forage  for  these,  how- 
ever, could  generally  be  obtained  by  driving  them 
to  the  stony  hillocks  and  rocky  mountain  ranges 
which  at  various  distances  from  one  another  inter- 
sected the  champaign  country.  The  plains  were 
firm  and  hard,  and  admirably  suited  for  riding; 


30  THE  LION  HUNTER 

they  were  pastured  short  and  bare  by  the  endless 
herds  of  game  which  from  time  immemorial  had 
held  possession  of  these  extensive  domains.  Al- 
though intersected  occasionally  by  mountain 
ranges,  these  plains  often  extend  to  amazing  dis- 
tances, without  any  landmark  to  break  the  monot- 
ony of  their  boundless  and  ocean-like  expanse.  At 
other  times  the  eye  is  relieved  by  one  or  more 
abrupt  pyramidal  or  cone-shaped  hills,  which  serve 
as  a  landmark  to  the  hunter,  whereby  to  regain  his 
encampment  after  the  excitement  of  the  chase. 

When  the  sun  is  powerful,  which  it  is  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  year,  an  enduring  mirage  dances 
on  the  plain  wherever  the  hunter  turns  his  bewil- 
dered eyes.  This  mirage  restricts  the  range  of 
vision  to  a  very  moderate  distance,  and  is  very 
prejudicial  to  correct  rifle-shooting.  The  effect 
produced  by  this  optical  illusion  is  remarkable: 
hills  and  herds  of  game  often  appear  as  if  sus- 
pended in  mid  air.  Dry  and  sun-baked  vleys,  or 
pans  covered  with  a  crystallized  efflorescence,  con- 
stantly delude  the  thirsty  traveler  with  the  pros- 
pect of  water ;  and  more  than  once  I  have  ridden  to- 
ward a  couple  of  springboks,  magnified  a  hundred- 
fold, which  I  had  mistaken  for  the  white  tilts  of  my 
wagons. 

This  vast  tract  of  bare,  sour  pasturage,  which 
is  peculiarly  the  inheritance  of  the  black  wildebe«»t, 


BLESBOKS  —  LIONS  31 

the  springbok,  and  the  blesbok,  but  more  particu- 
larly of  the  latter,  occupies  a  central  position,  as 
it  were,  in  Southern  Africa.  On  the  west  of  my 
present  encampment,  as  far  as  the  shores  of  the 
South  Atlantic  Ocean,  no  blesboks  are  to  be  found. 
Neither  do  they  extend  to  the  northward  of  the 
latitude  of  the  River  Molopo,  in  25°  30',  of  which 
I  shall  at  a  future  period  make  mention,  although 
their  herds  frequent  the  plains  along  its  southern 
bank.  To  the  south  a  few  small  herds  are  still  to 
be  found  within  the  colony,  but  their  head-quarters 
are  to  the  northward  of  the  Orange  River,  whence 
they  extend  in  an  easterly  direction  throughout  all 
the  vast  plains  situated  to  the  west  of  the  Witber- 
gen  range. 

The  blesbok,  in  his  manners  and  habits,  very 
much  resembles  the  springbok,  which,  however,  it 
greatly  exceeds  in  size,  being  as  large  as  an  Eng- 
lish fallow-deer.  It  is  one  of  the  true  antelopes, 
and  all  its  movements  and  paces  partake  of  the 
grace  and  elegance  peculiar  to  that  species.  Its 
color  is  similar  to  that  of  the  sassayby,  its  skin  be- 
ing beautifully  painted  with  every  shade  of  pur- 
ple, violet,  and  brown.  Its  belly  is  of  the  purest 
white,  and  a  broad  white  band,  or  "  blaze,"  adorns  i 
the  entire  length  of  its  face.  Blesboks  differ  from 
springboks  in  the  determined  and  invariable  man- 
ner in  which  they  scour  the  plains,  right  in  the 


S3  THE  LION  HUNTER 

wind's  eye,  and  also  in  the  manner  in  which  they 
carry  their  noses  close  along  the  ground. 
Throughout  the  greater  part  of  the  year  they  are 
very  wary  and  difficult  of  approach,  but  more  es- 
pecially when  the  does  have  young  ones.  At  that 
season,  when  one  herd  is  disturbed,  and  takes  away 
up  the  wind,  every  other  herd  in  view  follows  them ; 
and  the  alarm  extending  for  miles  and  miles  down 
the  wind,  to  endless  herds  beyond  the  vision  of 
the  hunter,  a  continued  stream  of  blesboks  may 
often  be  seen  scouring  up  wind  for  upward  of  an 
hour,  and  covering  the  landscape  as  far  as  the 
eye  can  see.  The  springboks,  which  in  equal 
numbers  frequent  the  same  ground,  do  not,  in  gen- 
eral, adopt  the  same  decided  course  as  the  bles- 
boks, but  take  away  in  every  direction  across  the 
plains,  sometimes  with  flying  bounds,  beautifully 
exhibiting  the  long,  snowy-white  hair  with  which 
their  backs  are  adorned,  and  at  others  walking 
slowly  and  carelessly  out  of  the  hunter's  way, 
scarcely  deigning  to  look  at  him,  with  an  air  of 
perfect  independence,  as  if  aware  of  their  own 
matchless  speed. 

The  black  wildebeests,  which  also  thickly  cover 
the  entire  length  and  breadth  of  the  blesbok  coun- 
try, in  herds  averaging  from  twenty  to  fifty,  have 
no  regular  course,  like  the  blesboks.  Unless  driven 
by  a  large  field  of  hunters,  they  do  not  leave  their 


BLESBOKS  —  LIONS  33 

ground,  although  disturbed.  Wheeling  about  in 
endless  circles,  and  performing  the  most  extraor- 
dinary variety  of  intricate  evolutions,  the  shaggy 
herds  of  these  eccentric  and  fierce-looking  animals 
are  forever  capering  and  gamboling  round  the  hun- 
ter on  every  side.  While  he  is  riding  hard  to 
obtain  a  family  shot  of  a  herd  in  front  of  him, 
other  herds  are  charging  down  wind  on  his  right 
and  left,  and,  having  described  a  number  of  circu- 
lar movements,  they  take  up  positions  upon  the 
very  ground  across  which  the  hunter  rode  only  a 
few  minutes  before. 

Singly,  and  in  small  troops  of  four  or  five  indi- 
viduals, the  old  bull  wildebeests  may  be  seen  sta- 
tioned at  intervals  throughout  the  plains,  standing 
motionless  during  a  whole  forenoon,  coolly  watch- 
ing with  a  philosophic  eye  the  movements  of  the 
other  game,  eternally  uttering  a  loud  snorting 
noise,  and  also  a  short,  sharp  cry  which  is  peculiar 
to  them.  When  the  hunter  approaches  these  old 
bulls,  they  commence  whisking  their  long  white 
tails  in  a  most  eccentric  manner;  then  springing 
suddenly  into  the  air,  they  begin  prancing  and 
capering,  and  pursue  each  other  in  circles  at  their 
utmost  speed.  Suddenly  they  all  pull  up  together 
to  overhaul  the  intruder,  when  two  of  the  bulls  will 
often  commence  fighting  in  the  most  violent  man- 
ner, dropping  on  their  knees  at  every  shock;  then 


34,  THE  LION  HUNTER 

quickly  wheeling  about,  they  kick  up  their  heels, 
whirl  their  tails  with  a  fantastic  flourish,  and 
scour  across  the  plain  enveloped  in  a  cloud  of  dust. 

Throughout  the  greater  part  of  the  plains  fre- 
quented by  blesboks,  numbers  of  the  sun-baked 
hills  or  mounds  of  clay  formed  by  the  white  ants 
occur.  The  average  height  of  the  ant-hills,  in 
these  districts,  is  from  two  to  three  feet.  They 
are  generally  distant  from  one  another  from  one 
to  three  hundred  yards,  being  more  or  less  thickly 
placed  in  different  parts.  These  ant-hills  are  of 
the  greatest  service  to  the  hunter,  enabling  him 
with  facility  to  conceal  himself  on  the  otherwise 
open  plain.  By  means  of  them  I  was  enabled  to 
hide,  and  select  out  of  the  herds  the  bucks  and  bulls 
carrying  the  finest  heads,  for  my  collection. 

On  the  28th,  having  breakfasted,  I  rode  forth 
with  two  after-riders  to  try  for  blesboks,  and  took 
up  positions  on  the  plain,  lying  flat  on  my  breast 
behind  ant-hills,  while  my  after-riders,  one  of  whom 
led  my  horse,  endeavored  to  move  them  toward  me. 
We  found  the  blesboks  abundant,  but  extremely 
wary.  I  wounded  several,  but  did  not  bag  one. 
I,  however,  shot  two  springboks,  which  were  fat, 
and  whose  flesh  we  stood  much  in  need  of.  I  had 
several  chances  of  wildebeests,  but  I  had  resolved 
not  to  fire  at  them. 

The  following  day  was  the  1st  of  March.    After 


BLESBOKS  —  LIONS  35 

an  early  breakfast  I  again  took  the  field,  with  my 
after-riders  and  a  spare  horse.  There  was  thun- 
der and  lightning  on  all  sides,  and  I  expected  the 
day  would  set  in  wet:  it  all  passed  over,  however, 
with  a  few  showers,  and  the  weather  was  delight- 
fully cool.  I  lay  behind  ant-hills,  while  my  men, 
extending  to  the  right  and  left,  endeavored  to  drive 
the  game  toward  me.  Late  in  the  day  I  bagged 
a  fine  old  blesbok:  it  was  a  family  shot,  running, 
at  two  hundred  yards.  I  also  shot  a  springbok, 
and  mortally  wounded  another ;  both  were  very  long 
shots. 

The  blesbok  is  one  of  the  finest  antelopes  in  the 
world,  and  is  allowed  to  be  the  swiftest  buck  in 
Africa.  He,  nevertheless,  attains  very  high  con- 
dition, and  at  this  period  was  exceedingly  fat.  I 
was  surprised  and  delighted  with  the  exquisite  man- 
ner in  which  his  beautiful  colors  are  blended  to- 
gether. Nothing  can  exceed  the  beauty  of  this 
animal.  Like  most  other  African  antelopes,  his 
skin  emitted  a  most  delicious  and  powerful  per- 
fume of  flowers  and  sweet-smelling  herbs.  A  secre- 
tion issues  from  between  his  hoofs  which  has  like- 
wise a  pleasing  perfume. 

The  3d  was  a  charmingly  cool  day.  At  an 
early  hour  in  the  morning  I  was  visited  by  a  party 
of  Boers,  some  of  whom  I  had  previously  met. 
They  were  proceeding  to  hunt  wildebeest  and  bles- 


36  THE  LION  HUNTER 

bok,  and  were  mounted  on  mares,  each  of  which  was 
followed  by  a  foal.  They  requested  me  to  join 
them  in  their  "jag,"  but  I  excused  myself,  pre- 
ferring to  hunt  alone.  Having  partaken  largely 
of  my  coffee,  the  Boers  mounted  their  mares  and 
departed,  holding  a  southeasterly  course.  As  soon 
as  they  were  out  of  sight  I  saddled  up  and  rode 
north,  with  two  after-riders,  to  try  for  blesboks. 
I  found  the  country  extremely  pleasant  to  ride  on. 
It  resembled  a  well-kept  lawn.  Troops  of  graceful 
springbok  and  blesbok  were  to  be  seen  cantering 
right  and  left,  and  large  herds  of  black  wildebeests 
in  every  direction,  now  charging  and  capering, 
and  now  reconnoitering.  I  took  up  positions  on 
the  plain  behind  the  ant-hills.  In  the  forenoon  I 
wounded  one  blesbok,  and  late  in  the  day  I  made 
a  fine  double  shot,  knocking  over  two  old  blesboks 
right  and  left,  at  a  hundred  and  a  hundred  and 
fifty  yards.  I  also  shot  one  springbok.  While 
"  gralloching  "  a  buck,  one  of  the  Boers  rode  up 
to  me  to  say  that  his  brother  had  wounded  a  wilde- 
beest which  stood  at  bay  on  the  plain,  and  his  am- 
munition being  expended,  he  would  feel  obliged  by 
my  coming  to  his  assistance.  I  accordingly  ac- 
companied the  Boer  to  where  his  brother  stood 
sentry  over  the  wounded  bull,  when  I  lent  him  my 
rifle,  with  which  he  finished  his  bull  with  a  bullet  in 
the  forehead. 


BLESBOKS  —  LIONS  37 

On  the  following  day  I  hunted  to  the  northeast 
of  my  camp,  and  made  a  fine  shot  at  a  blesbok, 
knocking  him  over  at  a  hundred  and  fifty  yards. 
Returning  to  camp  in  a  low-lying  grassy  vley,  I 
started  a  herd  of  "  vlacke  varcke,"  or  wild  hogs. 
The  herd  consisted  of  seven  half-grown  young  ones 
and  three  old  ones,  one  of  which  carried  a  pair  of 
enormous  tusks,  projecting  eight  or  nine  inches  be- 
yond his  lip.  Being  well  mounted  and  the  ground 
favorable,  I  at  once  gave  chase,  and  was  soon  at 
their  heels.  My  horse  was  "  The  Gray."  I  se- 
lected the  old  boar  for  my  prey,  and  immediately 
separated  him  from  his  comrades.  After  two  miles 
of  sharp  galloping,  we  commenced  ascending  a  con- 
siderable acclivity,  when  I  managed  to  close  with 
him,  and  succeeding  in  turning  his  head  toward  my 
camp.  He  now  reduced  his  pace  to  a  trot,  and  re- 
garded me  with  a  most  malicious  eye,  his  mouth 
a  mass  of  foam.  He  was  entirely  in  my  power,  as 
I  had  only  to  spring  from  my  horse  and  bowl  him 
over.  I  felt  certain  of  him,  but  resolved  not  to 
shoot  as  long  as  his  course  lay  in  the  direction  of 
the  wagons.  At  length,  surprised  at  the  resolute 
manner  in  which  he  held  for  my  camp,  I  headed 
him;  when,  to  my  astonishment,  he  did  not  in  the 
slightest  swerve  from  his  course,  but  trotted  along 
behind  my  horse  like  a  dog  following  me.  This  at 
once  roused  my  suspicions,  and  I  felt  certain  that 


38  THE  LION  HUNTER 

the  cunning  old  fellow  was  making  for  some  retreat, 
so  I  resolved  to  dismount  and  finish  him.  Just, 
however,  as  I  had  come  to  this  resolution,  I  sud- 
denly found  myself  in  a  labyrinth  of  enormous 
holes,  the  burrows  of  the  ant-bear.  In  front  of  one 
of  these  the  wild  boar  pulled  up,  and,  charging 
stern  foremost  into  it,  disappeared  from  my  dis- 
appointed eyes,  and  I  saw  him  no  more.  I  rode 
home  for  my  men ;  and  returning,  we  collected  grass 
and  bushes,  and  endeavored  to  smoke  him  out,  but 
without  success. 

On  the  7th  we  inspanned  at  dawn  of  day,  and 
trekked  east  about  ten  miles,  encamping  beside  a 
small,  isolated  farm-house,  which  had  been  lately 
vacated  by  some  Boer,  owing  to  the  impending  war 
with  the  Griquas.  Here  we  found  plenty  of  old 
cow-dung  for  fuel ;  an  article  which,  throughout 
the  whole  of  the  blesbok  country,  is  very  scarce, 
there  often  being  great  difficulty  in  obtaining  suffi- 
cient fuel  to  boil  the  kettle  for  coffee.  Beside  the 
farm-house  were  two  strong  springs  of  excellent 
water,  in  which  cresses  flourished.  Game  was 
abundant  on  all  sides,  wildebeests  and  springboks 
pasturing  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  the  door 
as  we  drove  up.  Below  the  fountains  was  a  small 
garden,  in  which  I  found  a  welcome  supply  of  on- 
ions and  other  vegetables. 

On  the  12th  I  bagged  two  bull  wildebeests  and 


BLESBOKS  —  LIONS  39 

two  springboks  to  the  northward  of  my  camp.  In 
the  evening  I  took  my  pillow  and  "  komberse,"  or 
skin  blanket,  to  the  margin  of  a  neighboring  vley, 
where  I  had  observed  doe  blesboks  drink.  Of 
these  I  had  not  yet  secured  a  single  specimen,  which 
I  was  very  anxious  to  do,  as  they  likewise  carry 
fine  horns,  which,  though  not  so  thick  as  those  of 
the  males,  are  more  gracefully  formed.  Shortly 
after  I  had  lain  down,  two  porcupines  came  grunt- 
ing up  to  me,  and  stood  within  six  feet  of  where 
I  lay.  About  midnight  an  old  wildebeest  came  and 
stood  within  ten  yards  of  me,  but  I  was  too  lazy 
to  fire  at  him.  All  night  I  heard  some  creature 
moving  in  the  cracked  earth  beneath  my  pillow; 
but,  believing  it  to  be  a  mouse,  I  did  not  feel  much 
concerned  about  the  matter.  I  could  not,  how- 
ever, divest  myself  of  a  painful  feeling  that  it 
might  be  a  snake,  and  wrapped  my  blanket  tight 
round  my  body.  Awaking  at  an  early  hour  the 
following  morning,  I  forgot  to  look  for  the  tenant 
who  had  spent  the  night  beneath  my  pillow.  No 
blesbok  appearing,  I  stalked  an  old  springbok 
through  the  rushes  and  shot  him.  Having  con- 
cealed him,  I  held  for  camp,  and  dispatched  two 
men  to  bring  home  the  venison  and  my  bedding. 

While  taking  my  breakfast  I  observed  my  men 
returning,  one  of  them  carrying  a  very  large  and 
deadly  serpent.  I  at  once  felt  certain  it  was  he 


40  THE  LION  HUNTER 

that  I  had  heard  the  previous  night  beneath  my 
pillow;  and  on  asking  them  where  they  had  killed 
it,  they  replied,  "  In  your  bed."  On  approaching 
the  bedding,  they  had  discovered  the  horrid  reptile 
sunning  itself  on  the  edge  of  my  blanket,  until,  on 
perceiving  them,  it  glided  in  beneath  it.  It  was 
a  large  specimen  of  the  black  variety  of  the  puff 
adder,  one  of  the  most  poisonous  serpents  of  Af- 
rica, death  ensuing  within  an  hour  after  its 
bite. 

On  the  15th  I  had  a  very  good  day's  sport.  As 
the  day  dawned  I  peeped  from  my  hole,  and  saw 
troops  of  blesboks  feeding  on  every  side  of  me, 
but  none  came  within  range.  I  shot  one  spring- 
bok, and,  having  concealed  him  in  the  rushes,  walked 
to  camp.  After  breakfast  I  took  the  field  with 
Kleinboy  and  the  Bushman,  and  rode  north  to  try 
for  blesboks.  While  lying  behind  an  ant-hill  on 
the  bare  plain,  a  herd  of  about  thirty  wildebeests 
came  thundering  down  upon  me,  and  the  leading 
bull  nearly  jumped  over  me.  Into  one  of  these  I 
fired;  he  got  the  ball  too  far  back,  however,  and 
made  off,  but  was  found  by  one  of  my  men  the 
following  day.  Presently  Kleinboy  rode  up,  and 
stated  that  while  he  was  driving  the  blesboks  he 
had  observed  an  old  stag  hartebeest  standing  in  the 
shade  of  some  tall  green  bushes  in  the  adjacent 
range  of  hills. 


BLESBOKS  — LIONS  41 

I  resolved  to  stalk  him  in  the  most  approved 
Highland  fashion;  so,  having  made  an  accurate 
survey  of  the  ground  with  my  spy-glass,  I  rode 
within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  him,  and  then  pro- 
ceeded to  creep  in  upon  him  on  my  hands  and  knees. 
In  this  manner  I  got  within  sixty  yards  of  him, 
where  I  lay  flat  on  my  breast  for  several  minutes 
until  he  should  give  me  his  broadside.  Presently 
he  walked  forth  from  the  cover  of  the  bush  beneath 
which  he  had  been  standing,  when  I  sent  a  ball  in 
at  his  right  shoulder,  which  rested  on  the  skin  in 
his  left  haunch.  Wheeling  about,  he  bounded  over 
an  adjacent  ridge  and  was  out  of  sight  in  a  mo- 
ment. On  gaining  this  ridge,  I  was  just  in  time 
to  see  the  noble  hartebeest  stagger  for  a  moment, 
and  then  subside  into  the  long  grass  in  a  hollow 
below  me.  He  was  a  princely  old  stag,  carrying 
splendid  horns  and  a  beautiful  coat  of  new  hair.  I 
thought  I  could  never  sufficiently  admire  him. 

Having  removed  the  head  and  skin,  we  made  for 
the  camp,  and  on  my  way  thither  I  was  tempted 
to  try  a  long  shot  at  one  of  the  two  old  blesboks 
that  kept  capering  to  leeward  of  us.  Sitting  down 
on  the  grass,  and  resting  both  my  elbows  on  my 
knees  (a  manner  of  firing  much  practiced  by  the 
Boers),  I  let  fly  at  a  blesbok,  and  made  one  of  the 
finest  shots  I  had  even  seen,  sending  the  ball 
through  the  middle  of  his  shoulder  at  upward  of 


42  THE  LION  HUNTER 

two  hundred  and  fifty  yards.  On  receiving  it,  he 
cantered  forward  a  short  distance  and  fell  dead. 

The  rifle  I  used  in  those  days  was  a  double-bar- 
reled two-grooved  one,  by  Dixon  of  Edinburgh, 
with  which  I  managed  to  make  such  superior  shoot- 
ing to  that  which  I  could  perform  with  the  old 
style  of  rifle,  that  I  considered  the  latter  as  a  mere 
"  pop-gun  "  in  comparison  with  the  other. 

In  the  evening  I  took  up  my  position  in  my 
shooting-hole  to  the  northward  of  camp.  About 
an  hour  after  the  moon  rose,  a  troop  of  wildebeests 
came  and  stood  within  thirty  yards  of  me.  I 
fired,  and  a  very  large  bull  with  one  horn  fell  to 
the  shot.  If  I  had  allowed  this  bull  to  lie  there, 
my  chance  of  further  sport  was  over  for  that  night 
and  the  following  morning.  I  therefore  took  the 
old  fellow  by  his  horn,  and,  exerting  my  utmost 
strength  and  taking  time,  I  managed  to  drag  him 
as  he  fell,  and  still  living,  to  a  hollow  beside  the 
water,  in  which  I  concealed  him.  In  half  an  hour 
another  troop  of  wildebeests  came  and  stood  snuf- 
fing on  the  spot  where  he  had  fallen.  I  fired,  and 
a  fine  old  bull  received  the  ball  in  the  shoulder, 
and,  bounding  forward  one  hundred  yards,  rolled 
over  in  the  dust.  In  about  an  hour  a  third  troop 
of  wildebeests  came  and  stood  within  thirty  yards 
of  me.  At  one  of  these  I  let  fly,  and  heard  the  ball 
crack  loudly  on  his  shoulder. 


BLESBOKS  —  LIONS  43 

On  the  16th  I  hunted  on  the  plains  to  the  north- 
east, killing  one  springbok,  and  at  night  I  watched 
the  distant  vley  to  the  northward  of  my  camp, 
and  got  a  fright  which  I  shall  remember  to  my 
dying  day.  Soon  after  the  moon  rose,  a  troop  of 
wildebeests  came  within  range;  at  one  of  these  I 
fired,  and  he  dropped  to  the  shot,  the  ball  passing 
through  the  spine.  A  little  after  this  I  discharged 
my  other  barrel  at  a  large  spotted  hysena,  and 
then  I  returned  my  rifle  to  its  holster  without  load- 
ing either  barrel,  and  presently  I  was  asleep. 

I  had  not  slept  long  when  my  light  dreams  were 
influenced  by  strange  sounds.  I  dreamed  that  lions 
were  rushing  about  in  quest  of  me,  and,  the  sounds 
increasing,  I  awoke  with  a  sudden  start,  uttering 
a  loud  shriek.  I  could  not  for  several  seconds  re- 
member in  what  part  of  the  world  I  was,  or  any 
thing  connected  with  my  present  position.  I  heard 
the  rushing  of  light  feet  as  of  a  pack  of  wolves  close 
on  every  side  of  me,  accompanied  by  the  most  un- 
earthly sounds.  On  raising  my  head,  to  my  utter 
horror  I  saw  on  every  side  nothing  but  savage  wild 
dogs,  chattering  and  growling.  On  my  right  and 
on  my  left,  and  within  a  few  paces  of  me,  stood  two 
lines  of  these  ferocious-looking  animals,  cocking 
their  ears  and  stretching  their  necks  to  have  a  look 
at  me ;  while  two  large  troops,  in  which  there  were 
at  least  forty  of  them,  kept  dashing  backward  and 


44  THE  LION  HUNTER 

forward  across  my  wind  within  a  few  yards  of  me, 
chattering  and  growling  with  the  most  extraordi- 
nary volubility. 

Another  troop  of  wild  dogs  was  fighting  over 
the  wildebeests  I  had  shot,  which  they  had  begun 
to  devour.  On  beholding  them,  I  expected  no 
other  fate  than  to  be  instantly  torn  to  pieces  and 
consumed.  I  felt  my  blood  curdling  along  my 
cheeks  and  my  hair  bristling  on  my  head.  How- 
ever, I  had  presence  of  mind  to  consider  that  the 
human  voice  and  a  determined  bearing  might  over- 
awe them,  and  accordingly,  springing  to  my  feet, 
I  stepped  on  to  the  little  ledge  surrounding  the 
hole,  where,  drawing  myself  up  to  my  full  height, 
I  waved  my  large  blanket  with  both  hands,  at  the 
same  time  addressing  my  savage  assembly  in  a  loud 
and  solemn  manner.  This  had  the  desired  effect: 
the  wild  dogs  removed  to  a  more  respectful  dis- 
tance, barking  at  me  something  like  collies.  Upon 
this  I  snatched  up  my  rifle  and  commenced  load- 
ing, and  before  this  was  accomplished  the  entire 
pack  had  passed  away  and  did  not  return. 

These  had  not  been  gone  many  minutes  when 
twelve  or  fifteen  large  hyaenas  were  hard  at  work 
on  the  wildebeest.  I  fired  two  shots  at  them  at 
different  times  during  the  night,  but  none  fell  to 
my  shots.  Heedless  of  me,  they  continued  their 
banquet,  and  long  before  morning  nothing  was  left 


BLESBOKS  —  LIONS  45 

of  the  wildebeest  save  a  few  of  the  larger  bones. 
On  the  two  following  mornings  I  was  annoyed  by 
a  cunning  old  bull  wildebeest,  which,  having  dis- 
covered my  retreat,  kept  sentry  over  me,  and  suc- 
cessively drove  away  every  troop  of  his  fellows  that 
approached  my  vley  to  drink.  He  kept  feeding 
just  out  of  rifle-range,  and  not  only  warned  his 
comrades  of  their  danger  by  fixing  his  eye  on  my 
place  of  concealment  and  snorting  loudly,  but  when 
this  failed  he  drove  the  other  wildebeests  from  me 
in  the  most  determined  manner,  like  a  collie  dog 
driving  sheep. 

Before  leaving  my  hole,  however,  on  the  second 
morning,  I  had  my  revenge.  A  troop  of  cows, 
heedless  of  his  warnings,  approached  the  vley.  In 
his  anxiety  for  their  safety  he  neglected  his  own; 
and  coming  for  the  first  time  within  long  rifle- 
range,  I  put  up  my  after-sights  and  let  drive  at 
his  ribs.  The  ball  took  effect,  and,  kicking  up  his 
heels  and  flourishing  his  long  white  tail,  the  old 
bull  bounded  forth,  and,  disappearing  over  a  ridge, 
I  saw  him  no  more. 

The  night  of  the  19th  was  to  me  rather  a  mem- 
orable one,  as  being  the  first  on  which  I  had  the  sat- 
isfaction of  hearing  the  deep-toned  thunder  of  the 
lion's  roar.  Although  there  was  no  one  near  to  in- 
form me  by  what  beast  the  haughty  and  impressive 
sounds  which  echoed  through  the  wilderness  were 


46  THE  LION  HUNTER 

produced,  I  had  little  difficulty  in  divining.  There 
was  no  mistake  about  it;  and  on  hearing  it  I  at 
once  knew,  as  well  as  if  accustomed  to  the  sound 
from  my  infancy,  that  the  appalling  roar  which 
was  uttered  within  half  a  mile  of  me  was  no  other 
than  that  of  the  mighty  and  terrible  king  of  beasts. 
Although  the  dignified  and  truly  monarchical  ap- 
pearance of  the  lion  has  long  rendered  him  fa- 
mous among  his  fellow  quadrupeds,  and  his  appear- 
ance and  habits  have  often  been  described  by  abler 
pens  than  mine,  nevertheless  I  consider  that  a  few 
remarks,  resulting  from  my  personal  experience, 
formed  by  a  tolerably  long  acquaintance  with  him 
both  by  day  and  by  night,  may  not  prove  uninter- 
esting to  the  reader. 

There  is  something  so  noble  and  imposing  in  the 
presence  of  the  lion,  when  seen  walking  with  dig- 
nified self-possession,  free  and  undaunted,  on  his 
native  soil,  that  no  description  can  convey  an  ade- 
quate idea  of  his  striking  appearance.  The  lion 
is  exquisitely  formed  by  nature  for  the  predatory 
habits  which  he  is  destined  to  pursue.  Combining 
in  comparatively  small  compass  the  qualities  of 
power  and  agility,  he  is  enabled,  by  means  of  the 
tremendous  machinery  with  which  nature  has  gifted 
him,  easily  to  overcome  and  destroy  almost  every 
beast  of  the  forest,  however  superior  to  him  in 
weight  and  stature. 


BLESBOKS  — LIONS  47 

1 

Though  considerably  under  four  feet  in  height, 
he  has  little  difficulty  in  dashing  to  the  ground  and 
overcoming  the  lofty  and  apparently  powerful  gi- 
raffe, whose  head  towers  above  the  trees  of  the 
forest,  and  whose  skin  is  nearly  an  inch  in  thick- 
ness. The  lion  is  the  constant  attendant  of  the 
vast  herds  of  buffaloes  which  frequent  the  inter- 
minable forests  of  the  interior;  and  a  full-grown 
one,  so  long  as  his  teeth  are  unbroken,  generally 
proves  a  match  for  an  old  bull  buffalo,  which  in 
size  and  strength  greatly  surpasses  the  most  power- 
ful breed  of  English  cattle:  the  lion  also  preys  on 
all  the  larger  varieties  of  the  antelopes,  and  on 
both  varieties  of  the  gnoo.  The  zebra,  which  is 
met  with  in  large  herds  throughout  the  interior,  is 
also  a  favorite  object  of  his  pursuit. 

Lions  do  not  refuse,  as  has  been  asserted,  to  feast 
upon  the  venison  that  they  have  not  killed  them- 
selves. I  have  repeatedly  discovered  lions  of  all 
ages  which  had  taken  possession  of,  and  were  feast- 
ing upon,  the  carcasses  of  various  game  quadrupeds 
which  had  fallen  before  my  rifle.  The  lion  is  very 
generally  diffused  throughout  the  secluded  parts  of 
Southern  Africa.  He  is,  however,  nowhere  met 
with  in  great  abundance,  it  being  very  rare  to  find 
more  than  three,  or  even  two,  families  of  lions  fre- 
quenting the  same  district  and  drinking  at  the  same 
fountain.  When  a  greater  number  were  met  with, 


48  THE  LION  HUNTER 

I 

I  remarked  that  it  was  owing  to  long-protracted 
droughts,  which,  by  drying  nearly  all  the  fountains, 
had  compelled  the  game  of  various  districts  to 
crowd  the  remaining  springs,  and  the  lions,  accord- 
ing to  their  custom,  followed  in  the  wake. 

It  is  a  common  thing  to  come  upon  a  full-grown 
lion  and  lioness  associating  with  three  or  four  large 
ones  nearly  full  grown;  at  other  times,  full-grown 
males  will  be  found  associating  and  hunting  to- 
gether in  a  happy  state  of  friendship:  two,  three, 
and  four  full-grown  male  lions  may  thus  be  dis- 
covered consorting  together. 

The  male  lion  is-  adorned  with  a  long,  rank, 
shaggy  mane,  which  in  some  instances  almost 
sweeps  the  ground.  The  color  of  these  manes  va- 
ries, some  being  very  dark,  and  others  of  a  golden 
yellow.  This  appearance  has  given  rise  to  a  pre- 
vailing opinion  among  the  Boers  that  there  are 
two  distinct  varieties  of  lions,  which  they  distin- 
guish by  the  respective  names  of  "  Schwart  fore 
life  "  and  "  Chiel  fore  life :  "  this  idea,  however,  is 
erroneous.  The  color  of  the  lion's  mane  is  gen- 
erally influenced  by  his  age.  He  attains  his  mane 
in  the  third  year  of  his  existence.  I  have  re- 
marked that  at  first  it  is  of  a  yellowish  color ;  in 
the  prime  of  life  it  is  blackest,  and  when  he  has 
numbered  many  years,  but  still  is  in  the  full  en- 
joyment of  his  power,  it  assumes  a  yellowish-gray, 


BLESBOKS  —  LIONS  49 

pepper-and-salt  sort  of  color.  These  old  fellows 
are  cunning  and  dangerous,  and  most  to  be  dreaded. 
The  females  are  utterly  destitute  of  a  mane,  being 
covered  with  a  short,  thick,  glossy  coat  of  tawny 
hair.  The  manes  and  coats  of  lions  frequenting 
open-lying  districts  utterly  destitute  of  trees,  such 
as  the  borders  of  the  great  Kalahari  desert,  are 
more  rank  and  handsome  than  those  inhabiting  for- 
est districts. 

One  of  the  most  striking  things  connected  with 
the  lion  is  his  voice,  which  is  extremely  grand  and 
peculiarly  striking.  It  consists  at  times  of  a  low, 
deep  moaning,  repeated  five  or  six  times,  ending  in 
faintly  audible  sighs ;  at  other  times  he  startles 
the  forest  with  loud,  deep-toned,  solemn  roars,  re- 
peated five  or  six  times  in  quick  succession,  each 
increasing  in  loudness  to  the  third  or  fourth,  when 
his  voice  dies  away  in  five  or  six  low,  muffled  sounds, 
very  much  resembling  distant  thunder.  At  times, 
and  not  unfrequently,  a  troop  may  be  heard  roar- 
ing in  concert,  one  assuming  the  lead,  and  two, 
three,  or  four  more  regularly  taking  up  their  parts, 
like  persons  singing  a  catch.  Like  our  Scottish 
stags  at  the  rutting  season,  they  roar  loudest  in 
cold,  frosty  nights ;  but  on  no  occasions  are  their 
voices  to  be  heard  in  such  perfection,  or  so  intensely 
powerful,  as  when  two  or  three  strange  troops  of 
lions  approach  a  fountain  to  drink  at  the  same 


50  THE  LION  HUNTER 

time.  When  this  occurs,  every  member  of  each 
troop  sounds  a  bold  roar  of  defiance  at  the  opposite 
parties ;  and  when  one  roars,  all  roar  together,  and 
each  seems  to  vie  with  his  comrades  in  the  intensity 
and  power  of  his  voice. 

The  power  and  grandeur  of  these  nocturnal  for- 
est concerts  is  inconceivably  striking  and  pleasing 
to  the  hunter's  ear.  The  effect,  I  may  remark,  is 
greatly  enhanced  when  the  hearer  happens  to  be 
situated  in  the  depths  of  the  forest,  at  the  dead 
hour  of  midnight,  unaccompanied  by  any  attend- 
ant, and  ensconced  within  twenty  yards  of  the 
fountain  which  the  surrounding  troops  of  lions  are 
approaching.  Such  has  been  my  situation  many 
scores  of  times;  and  though  I  am  allowed  to  have 
a  tolerably  good  taste  for  music,  I  consider  the 
catches  with  which  I  was  then  regaled  as  the  sweet- 
est and  most  natural  I  ever  heard. 

As  a  general  rule,  lions  roar  during  the  night ; 
their  sighing  moans  commencing  as  the  shades  of 
evening  envelop  the  forest,  and  continuing  at  in- 
tervals throughout  the  night.  In  distant  and  se- 
cluded regions,  however,  I  have  constantly  heard 
them  roaring  loudly  as  late  as  nine  and  ten  o'clock 
on  a  bright  sunny  morning.  In  hazy  and  rainy 
weather  they  are  to  be  heard  at  every  hour  in  the 
day,  but  their  roar  is  subdued.  It  often  happens 
that  when  two  strange  male  lions  meet  at  a  foun- 


BLESBOKS  —  LIONS  51 

tain  a  terrific  combat  ensues,  which  not  unfre- 
quently  ends  in  the  death  of  one  of  them.  The 
habits  of  the  lion  are  strictly  nocturnal ;  during  the 
day  he  lies  conceded  beneath  the  shade  of  some 
low  bushy  tree  or  wide-spreading  bush,  either  in  the 
level  forest  or  on  the  mountain  side.  He  is  also 
partial  to  lofty  reeds,  or  fields  of  long,  rank  yellow 
grass,  such  as  occur  in  low-lying  vleys.  From 
these  haunts  he  sallies  forth  when  the  sun  goes 
down,  and  commences  his  nightly  prowl.  When  he 
is  successful  in  his  beat  and  has  secured  his  prey, 
he  does  not  roar  much  that  night,  only  uttering 
occasionally  a  few  low  moans ;  that  is,  provided  no 
intruders  approach  him,  otherwise  the  case  would 
be  very  different. 

Lions  are  ever  most  active,  daring,  and  presum- 
ing in  dark  and  stormy  nights,  and  consequently, 
on  such  occasions,  the  traveler  ought  more  particu- 
larly to  be  on  his  guard.  I  remarked  a  fact  con- 
nected with  the  lions'  hour  of  drinking  peculiar  to 
themselves :  they  seemed  unwilling  to  visit  the  foun- 
tains with  good  moonlight.  Thus,  when  the  moon 
rose  early,  the  lions  deferred  their  hour  of  watering 
until  late  in  the  morning;  and  when  the  moon  rose 
late,  they  drank  at  a  very  early  hour  in  the  night. 
By  this  acute  system  many  a  grisly  lion  saved  his 
bacon,  and  is  now  luxuriating  in  the  forest  of  South 
Africa,  which  had  otherwise  fallen  by  the  barrels 


52  THE  LION  HUNTER 

of  my  "  Westley  Richards."  Owing  to  the  tawny 
color  of  the  coat  with  which  nature  has  robed  him, 
he  is  perfectly  invisible  in  the  dark;  and  although 
I  have  often  heard  them  loudly  lapping  the  water 
under  my  very  nose,  not  twenty  yards  from  me,  I 
could  not  possibly  make  out  so  much  as  the  out- 
line of  their  forms.  When  a  thirsty  lion  comes  to 
water,  he  stretches  out  his  massive  arms,  lies  down 
on  his  breast  to  drink,  and  makes  a  loud  lapping 
noise  in  drinking  not  to  be  mistaken.  He  con- 
tinues lapping  up  the  water  for  a  long  while,  and 
four  or  five  times  during  the  proceeding  he  pauses 
for  half  a  minute  as  if  to  take  breath.  One  thing 
conspicuous  about  them  is  their  eyes,  which,  in  a 
dark  night,  glow  like  two  balls  of  fire. 

The  female  is  more  fierce  and  active  than  the 
male,  as  a  general  rule.  Lionesses  which  have 
never  had  young  are  much  more  dangerous  than 
those  which  have.  At  no  time  is  the  lion  so  much 
to  be  dreaded  as  when  his  partner  has  got  small 
young  ones.  At  that  season  he  knows  no  fear, 
and,  in  the  coolest  and  most  intrepid  manner,  he 
will  face  a  thousand  men.  A  remarkable  instance 
of  this  kind  came  under  my  own  observation,  which 
confirmed  the  reports  I  had  before  heard  from  the 
natives.  One  day,  when  out  elephant-hunting  in 
the  territory  of  the  "  Baseleka,"  accompanied  by 
two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  I  was  astonished  sud- 


BLESBOKS  —  LIONS  53 

denly  to  behold  a  majestic  lion  slowly  and  steadily 
advancing  toward  us  with  a  dignified  step  and  un- 
daunted bearing,  the  most  noble  and  imposing  that 
can  be  conceived.  Lashing  his  tail  from  side  to 
side,  and  growling  haughtily,  his  terribly  expres- 
sive eye  resolutely  fixed  upon  us,  and  displaying  a 
show  of  ivory  well  calculated  to  inspire  terror 
among  the  timid  "  Bechuanas,"  he  approached.  A 
headlong  flight  of  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  men 
was  the  immediate  result ;  and,  in  the  confusion  of 
the  moment,  four  couples  of  my  dogs,  which  had 
been  leading,  were  allowed  to  escape  in  their 
couples.  These  instantly  faced  the  lion,  who,  find- 
ing that  by  his  bold  bearing  he  had  succeeded  in 
putting  his  enemies  to  flight,  now  became  solicitous 
for  the  safety  of  his  little  family,  with  which  the 
lioness  was  retreating  in  the  back-ground.  Facing 
about,  he  followed  after  them  with  a  haughty  and 
independent  step,  growling  fiercely  at  the  dogs 
which  trotted  along  on  either  side  of  him. 

Three  troops  of  elephants  having  been  discovered 
a  few  minutes  previous  to  this,  upon  which  I  was 
marching  for  the  attack,  I,  with  the  most  heartfelt 
reluctance,  reserved  my  fire.  On  running  down  the 
hill  side  to  endeavor  to  recall  my  dogs,  I  observed, 
for  the  first  time,  the  retreating  lioness  with  four 
cubs.  About  twenty  minutes  afterward  two  noble 
elephants  repaid  my  forbearance. 


54  THE  LION  HUNTER 

Among  Indian  Nimrods,  a  certain  class  of  royal 
tigers  is  dignified  with  the  appellation  of  "  man- 
eaters."  These  are  tigers  which,  having  once 
tasted  human  flesh  show  a  predilection  for  the  same, 
and  such  characters  are  very  naturally  famed  and 
dreaded  among  the  natives. .  Elderly  gentlemen  of 
similar  tastes  and  habits  are  occasionally  met  with 
among  the  lions  in  the  interior  of  South  Africa,  and 
the  danger  of  such  neighbors  may  be  easily  imag- 
ined. I  account  for  lions  first  acquiring  this  taste 
in  the  following  manner:  the  Bechuana  tribes  of 
the  far  interior  do  not  bury  their  dead,  but  un- 
ceremoniously carry  them  forth,  and  leave  them  ly- 
ing exposed  in  the  forest  or  on  the  plain,  a  prey  to 
the  lion  and  hya?na,  or  the  jackal  and  vulture;  and 
I  can  readily  imagine  that  a  lion,  having  thus  once 
tasted  human  flesh,  would  have  little  hesitation, 
when  opportunity  presented  itself,  of  springing 
upon  and  carrying  off  the  unwary  traveler  or 
"  Bechuana  "  inhabiting  his  country.  Be  this  as  it 
may,  man-eaters  occur;  and  on  my  fourth  hunting 
expedition,  a  horrible  tragedy  was  acted  one  dark 
night  in  my  little  lonely  camp  by  one  of  these 
formidable  characters,  which  deprived  me,  in  the 
far  wilderness,  of  my  most  valuable  servant. 

In  winding  up  these  few  observations  on  the  lion, 
which  I  trust  will  not  have  been  tiresome  to  the 
reader,  I  may  remark  that  lion-hunting,  under  any 


BLESBOKS  —  LIONS  55 

circumstances,  is  decidedly  a  dangerous  pursuit. 
It  may  nevertheless  be  followed,  to  a  certain  extent, 
with  comparative  safety  by  those  who  have  natur- 
ally a  turn  for  that  sort  of  thing.  A  recklessness 
of  death,  perfect  coolness  and  self-possession,  an 
acquaintance  with  the  disposition  and  manners  of 
lions,  and  a  tolerable  knowledge  of  the  use  of  the 
rifle,  are  indispensable  to  him  who  would  shine  in 
the  overpoweringly  exciting  pastime  of  hunting  this 
justly  celebrated  king  of  beasts. 


CHAPTER  II 

LIONS BUFFALOES RHINOCEROS 

ON  the  22d  of  March  I  rode  south  to  a 
distant   farm,    for   the   double   purpose 
of  obtaining  some  corn  or  meal,  and  of 
hearing  the  news  of  the  impending  war  between  the 
Boers  and  Griquas.     On  reaching  the  farm,  I  found 
that  a  large  party  of  Boers  were  here  encamped  to- 
gether: they  had  mustered  for  mutual  protection. 
Their  tents  and  wagons  were  drawn  up  on  every 
side  of  the  farm-house,  forming  a  very  lively  ap- 
pearance. 

The  Boers  informed  me  that  all  their  country- 
men, and  also  the  Griquas,  were  thus  packed  to- 
gether in  "  lagers "  or  encampments,  and  that 
hostilities  were  about  to  commence.  They  remon- 
strated with  me  on  what  they  were  pleased  to  term 
my  madness,  in  living  alone  in  an  isolated  position 
in  such  sharp  times,  and  invited  me  to  place  myself 
for  protection  under  their  banner.  I  endeavored 
to  persuade  them  to  get  up  a  party  to  hunt  the 

lion ;  but  this  they  declined  to  do,  remarking  that 

56 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  —  RHINOCEROS     57 

*'  a  lion  (like  Johnnie  Gordon's  bagpipes)  was  not 
to  be  played  with." 

Returning  to  my  camp,  I  bowled  over  a  spring- 
bok at  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards.  On  the  23d, 
having  breakfasted,  I  rode  north,  with  after-riders, 
to  try  for  blesboks.  It  was  a  cool  day,  with  a 
strong  easterly  breeze,  and  we  found  the  game  ex- 
tremely wild.  As  we  proceeded,  vast  herds  kept 
streaming  up  on  the  wind,  darkening  the  plain  be- 
fore us  in  countless  thousands.  About  two  miles 
north  of  the  bushy  mountain  where  I  had  heard 
the  lion  roar,  far  in  the  vast  level  plain,  were  some 
bushy  mimosa  trees.  Within  a  few  hundred  yards 
of  these  we  discovered  an  old  bull  wildebeest,  newly 
killed  by  a  lion  and  half  eaten.  His  large  and 
striking  foot-prints  were  deeply  imbedded  in  the 
sand,  and  so  fresh  that  they  seemed  to  have  been 
imprinted  only  a  few  minutes  before.  Moreover, 
there  was  not  a  single  vulture  near  the  carcass. 
We  therefore  felt  convinced  that  the  lion  must  be 
lying  somewhere  near  us,  having  hidden  himself  on 
our  approach.  We  searched  for  some  time  in  the 
adjacent  hollows,  where  the  grass  was  very  rank, 
but  in  vain.  The  game  now  became  more  and  more 
wild,  taking  away  into  another  district  in  long 
strings,  like  our  island  red-deer  when  hard  driven ; 
I  accordingly  gave  it  up,  and  turned  my  horse's 
head  for  camp.  On  my  way  thither  I  bagged  one 


58  THE  LION  HUNTER 

blesbok  and  two  bull  wildebeests :  one  of  these  got 
the  bullet  through  his  heart,  but  nevertheless  stood 
at  bay  for  some  time  after. 

On  reaching  camp  I  suddenly  resolved  to  take 
men  and  horses  with  me,  and  spend  the  night  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  lion,  and  search  early  for  him  on 
the  following  morning.  Accordingly,  while  dinner 
was  preparing,  I  occupied  myself  in  cleaning  and 
loading  my  three  double-barreled  rifles ;  after 
which,  having  dined,  I  rode  with  Kleinboy  and  John 
Stofolus  to  my  hole  by  the  vley,  where  my  bedding 
lay  day  and  night.  This  spot  was  within  a  few 
miles  of  where  we  expected  to  fall  in  with  the  lion 
in  the  morning.  We  secured  the  three  horses  to 
one  another,  as  there  was  no  tree  or  bush  within 
miles  of  us ;  but  these  I  could  dispense  with,  for  I 
knew  very  well  by  the  looks  of  the  Hottentots  that 
they  would  not  sleep  much,  but  would  keep  a  vigi- 
lant eye  over  our  destinies. 

I  spent  a  most  miserable  night.  The  wind, 
which  had  been  blowing  so  fresh  in  the  height  of 
the  day,  had  subsided  to  a  calm  when  the  sun  went 
down,  and  was  now  succeeded  by  an  almost  death- 
like stillness,  which  I  too  well  knew  was  the  har- 
binger of  a  coming  tempest.  We  had  not  lain 
down  an  hour  when  the  sky  to  leeward  became 
black  as  pitch.  Presently  the  most  vivid  flashes 
of  lightning  followed  one  another  in  quick  succes- 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  —  RHINOCEROS     59 

sion,  accompanied  by  terrific  peals  of  thunder. 
The  wind,  which,  during  the  day,  had  been  out  of 
the  northeast,  now,  as  is  usual  on  such  occasions, 
veered  right  round,  and  came  whistling  up  from 
the  southwest,  where  the  tempest  was  brewing ;  and 
in  a  few  minutes  more  it  was  upon  us  in  all  its  fury, 
the  rain  descending  in  torrents  on  our  devoted 
heads,  while  vivid  flashes  of  lightning  momentarily 
illumined,  with  the  brilliancy  of  day,  the  darkness 
that  reigned  around.  In  a  very  few  minutes  the 
whole  plain  was  a  sheet  of  water,  and  every  atom 
of  my  clothes  and  bedding  was  thoroughly  satu- 
rated. My  three  rifles  had  excellent  holsters,  and 
with  the  help  of  two  sheep-skins,  which  I  used  in- 
stead of  saddle-cloths,  I  kept  them  quite  dry.  In 
two  hours  the  tempest  had  passed  away,  but  light 
rain  fell  till  morning,  until  which  time  I  lay  on  the 
wet  ground,  soaked  to  the  skin. 

About  midnight  we  heard  the  lion  roar  a  mile 
or  so  to  the  northward,  and  a  little  before  the  day 
dawned  I  again  heard  him  in  the  direction  of  the 
carcass  which  we  had  found  on  the  preceding  day. 
Soon  after  this  I  gave  the  word  to  march.  We 
then  arose  and  saddled  our  horses.  I  found  my 
trousers  lying  in  a  pool  of  water,  so  I  converted  a 
blanket  into  a  long  kilt  by  strapping  it  round  my 
waist  with  my  shooting-belt.  The  costume  of  my 
followers  was  equally  unique.  We  held  for  the 


60  THE  LION  HUNTER 

north  end  of  the  lion's  mountain  at  a  sharp  pace, 
which  we  gained  before  it  was  clear  enough  to  see 
surrounding  objects.  As  the  light  broke  in  upon 
us  we  reduced  our  pace,  and  rode  slowly  up  the  mid- 
dle of  the  vast  level  plain  toward  the  carcass  of  the 
wildebeest,  with  large  herds  of  wildebeests,  spring- 
bok, blesbok,  and  quaggas  on  every  side  of  us, 
which  were  this  day  as  tame  as  they  had  been  wild 
on  the  previous  one.  This  is  generally  the  case 
after  a  storm. 

The  morn  was  cloudy;  misty  vapors  hung  on 
the  shoulders  of  the  neighboring  mountains,  and 
the  air  was  loaded  with  balmy  perfume,  emitted 
by  the  grateful  plants  and  herbs.  As  we  ap- 
proached the  carcass,  I  observed  several  jackals 
steal  away,  and  some  half-drowned-looking  vul- 
tures were  sitting  round  it.  But  there  was  no  ap- 
pearance of  the  lion.  I  spent  the  next  half  hour 
in  riding  across  the  plain  looking  for  his  spoor; 
but  I  sought  in  vain.  Being  cold  and  hungry,  I 
turned  my  horse's  head  for  camp,  and  rode  slowly 
along  through  the  middle  of  the  game,  which  would 
scarcely  move  out  of  rifle-range  on  either  side  of 
me. 

Suddenly  I  observed  a  number  of  vultures  seated 
on  the  plain  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  ahead  of  us^ 
and  close  beside  them  stood  a  huge  lioness,  consum- 
ing a  blesbok  which  she  had  killed.  She  was  as- 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  —  RHINOCEROS     61 

sisted  in  her  repast  by  about  a  dozen  jackals, 
which  were  feasting  along  with  her  in  the  most 
friendly  and  confidential  manner.  Directing  my 
followers'  attention  to  the  spot,  I  remarked,  "  I 
see  the  lion ;"  to  which  they  replied,  "  Whar  ? 
whar?  Yah!  Almagtig!  dat  is  he;"  and  in- 
stantly reining  in  their  steeds  and  wheeling  about, 
they  pressed  their  heels  to  their  horses'  sides,  and 
were  preparing  to  betake  themselves  to  flight.  I 
asked  them  what  they  were  going  to  do.  To  which 
they  answered,  "  We  have  not  yet  placed  caps  on 
our  rifles."  This  was  true;  but  while  this  short 
conversation  was  passing  the  lioness  had  observed 
us.  Raising  her  full,  round  face,  she  overhauled 
us  for  a  few  seconds,  and  then  set  oft7  at  a  smart 
canter  toward  a  range  of  mountains  some  miles  to 
the  northward;  the  whole  troop  of  jackals  also 
started  off  in  another  direction;  there  was,  there- 
fore, no  time  to  think  of  caps.  The  first  move  was 
to  bring  her  to  bay,  and  not  a  second  was  to  be 
lost.  Spurring  my  good  and  lively  steed,  and 
shouting  to  my  men  to  follow,  I  flew  across  the 
plain,  and,  being  fortunately  mounted  on  Coles- 
berg,  the  flower  of  my  stud,  I  gained  upon  her  at 
every  stride.  This  was  to  me  a  joyful  moment, 
and  I  at  once  made  up  my  mind  that  she  or  I  must 
die. 

The  lioness  having  had  a  long  start  of  me,  we 


62  THE  LION  HUNTER 

went  over  a  considerable  extent  of  ground  before  I 
came  up  with  her.  She  was  a  large,  full-grown 
beast,  and  the  bare  and  level  nature  of  the  plain 
added  to  her  imposing  appearance.  Finding  that 
I  gained  upon  her,  she  reduced  her  pace  from  a 
canter  to  a  trot,  carrying  her  tail  stuck  out  be- 
hind her,  and  slewed  a  little  to  one  side.  I 
shouted  loudly  to  her  to  halt,  as  I  wished  to  speak 
with  her,  upon  which  she  suddenly  pulled  up,  and 
sat  on  her  haunches  like  a  dog,  with  her  back  to- 
ward me,  not  even  deigning  to  look  round.  She 
then  appeared  to  say  to  herself,  "  Does  this  fel- 
low know  who  he  is  after?  "  Having  thus  sat  for 
half  a  minute,  as  if  involved  in  thought,  she  sprang 
to  her  feet,  and,  facing  about,  stood  looking  at  me 
for  a  few  seconds,  moving  her  tail  slowly  from  side 
to  side,  showing  her  teeth,  and  growling  fiercely. 
She  next  made  a  short  run  forward,  making  a  loud 
rumbling  noise  like  thunder.  This  she  did  to  in- 
timidate me;  but,  finding  that  I  did  not  flinch  an 
inch  nor  seem  to  heed  her  hostile  demonstrations, 
she  quietly  stretched  out  her  massive  arms,  and  lay 
down  on  the  grass. 

My  Hottentots  now  coming  up,  we  all  three  dis- 
mounted, and,  drawing  our  rifles  from  their  hol- 
sters, we  looked  to  see  if  the  powder  was  up  in 
the  nipples,  and  put  on  our  caps.  While  this  was 
doing  the  lioness  sat  up,  and  showed  evident  symp- 


UONS  —  BUFFALOES  —  RHINOCEROS  63 

toms  of  uneasiness.  She  looked  first  at  us,  and 
then  behind  her,  as  if  to  see  if  the  coast  were  clear, 
after  which  she  made  a  short  run  toward  us,  utter- 
ing her  deep-drawn,  murderous  growls.  Having 
secured  the  three  horses  to  one  another  by  their 
rheims,*  we  led  them  on  as  if  we  intended  to  pass 
her,  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  a  broadside.  But  this 
she  carefully  avoided  to  expose,  presenting  only 
her  full  front.  I  had  giten  Stofolus  my  Moore 
rifle,  with  orders  to  shoot  her  if  she  should  spring 
upon  me,  but  on  no  account  to  fire  before  me. 
Kleinboy  was  to  stand  ready  to  hand  me  my  Purdey 
rifle,  in  case  the  two-grooved  Dixon  should  not 
prove  sufficient.  My  men  as  yet  had  been  steady, 
but  they  were  in  a  precious  stew,  their  faces  having 
assumed  a  ghastly  paleness,  and  I  had  a  painful 
feeling  that  I  could  place  no  reliance  on  them. 

Now,  then,  for  it,  neck  or  nothing!  She  is 
within  sixty  yards  of  us,  and  she  keeps  advancing. 
We  turned  the  horses'  tails  to  her.  I  knelt  on  one 
side,  and,  taking  a  steady  aim  at  her  breast,  let 
fly.  The  ball  cracked  loudly  on  her  tawny  hide, 
and  crippled  her  in  the  shoulder,  upon  which  she 
charged  with  an  appalling  roar,  and  in  the  twin- 
kling of  an  eye  she  was  in  the  midst  of  us.  At  this 
moment  Stofolus's  rifle  exploded  in  his  hand,  and 

*  A  thong  of  rawhide  seven  or  eight  feet  long,  used  as 
hitching  strap,  trace,  etc.  South  African  dialect. 


64  THE  LION  HUNTER 

Kleinboy,  whom  I  had  ordered  to  stand  ready  by 
me,  danced  about  like  a  duck  in  a  gale  of  wind. 
The  lioness  sprang  upon  Colesberg,  and  fearfully 
lacerated  his  ribs  and  haunches  with  her  horrid 
teeth  and  claws;  the  worst  wound  was  on  his 
haunch,  which  exhibited  a  sickening,  yawning  gash, 
more  than  twelve  inches  long,  almost  laying  bare 
the  very  bone.  I  was  very  cool  and  steady,  and 
did  not  feel  in  the  least  degree  nervous,  having  for- 
tunately great  confidence  in  my  own  shooting ;  but 
I  must  confess,  when  the  whole  affair  was  over,  I 
felt  that  it  was  a  very  awful  situation,  and  attended 
with  extreme  peril,  as  I  had  no  friend  with  me  on 
whom  I  could  rely. 

When  the  lioness  sprang  on  Colesberg,  I  stood 
out  from  the  horses,  ready  with  my  second  barrel 
for  the  first  chance  she  should  give  me  of  a  clear 
shot.  This  she  quickly  did ;  for,  seemingly  satisfied 
with  the  revenge  she  had  now  taken,  she  quitted 
Colesberg,  and,  slewing  her  tail  to  one  side,  trotted 
sulkily  past  within  a  few  paces  of  me,  taking  one 
step  to  the  left.  I  pitched  my  rifle  to  my  shoulder, 
and  in  another  second  the  lioness  was  stretched  on 
the  plain  a  lifeless  corpse.  In  the  struggles  of 
death  she  half  turned  on  her  back,  and  stretched 
her  neck  and  fore  arms  convulsively,  when  she  fell 
back  to  her  former  position ;  her  mighty  arms  hung 
powerless  by  her  side,  her  lower  jaw  fell,  blood 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  —  RHINOCEROS     65 

streamed  from  her  mouth,  and  she  expired.  At 
the  moment  I  fired  my  second  shot,  Stofolus,  who 
hardly  knew  whether  he  was  alive  or  dead,  allowed 
the  three  horses  to  escape.  These  galloped  fran- 
tically across  the  plain,  on  which  he  and  Kleinboy 
instantly  started  after  them,  leaving  me  standing 
alone  and  unarmed  within  a  few  paces  of  the  lioness, 
which  they,  from  their  anxiety  to  be  out  of  the  way, 
evidently  considered  quite  capable  of  doing  further 
mischief. 

Such  is  ever  the  case  with  these  worthies,  and 
with  nearly  all  the  natives  of  South  Africa.  No 
reliance  can  be  placed  on  them.  They  will  to  a 
certainty  forsake  their  master  in  the  most  dastardly 
manner  in  the  hour  of  peril,  and  leave  him  in  the 
lurch.  A  stranger,  however,  hearing  these  fellows 
recounting  their  own  gallant  adventures,  when  sit- 
ting in  the  evening  along  with  their  comrades  round 
a  blazing  fire,  or  under  the  influence  of  their  adored 
"  Cape  smoke  "  or  native  brandy,  might  fancy  them 
to  be  the  bravest  of  the  brave.  Having  skinned 
the  lioness  and  cut  off  her  head,  we  placed  her 
trophies  upon  Beauty  and  held  for  camp.  Before 
we  had  proceeded  a  hundred  yards  from  the  car- 
cass, upward  of  sixty  vultures,  whom  the  lioness 
had  often  fed,  were  feasting  on  her  remains. 

We  led  poor  Colesberg  slowly  home,  where,  hav- 
ing washed  his  wounds  and  carefully  stitched  them 


66  THE  LION  HUNTER 

together,  I  ordered  the  cold  water  cure  to  be 
adopted.  Under  this  treatment  his  wounds  rap- 
idly healed,  and  he  eventually  recovered.  The  sky 
remained  overcast  throughout  the  day.  When  the 
shades  of  evening  set  in,  terror  seemed  to  have  taken 
possession  of  the  minds  of  my  followers,  and  they 
swore  that  the  mate  of  the  lioness,  on  finding  her 
bones,  would  follow  on  our  spoor  and  revenge  her 
death.  Under  this  impression,  they  refused  to  re- 
main about  the  wagons  or  in  the  tent  after  the  sun 
went  down;  and  having  cut  down  the  rafters  and 
cupboards  of  the  Boer's  house  for  fuel,  they  kindled 
a  large  fire  in  the  kitchen,  where  the}7  took  up  their 
quarters  for  the  night.  .  .  . 

[Gumming  then  returned  to  Colesberg,  where  he 
packed  and  stored  his  trophies,  increased  his  estab- 
lishment, refitted  the  outfit,  and  thereupon  set  forth 
for  the  elephant  country  in  the  far  forests  of  the 
interior.  On  this  journey  he  met  Dr.  David  Liv- 
ingstone, the  famous  missionary,  by  whom  he  was 
pleasantly  entertained,  and  from  whom  he  received 
valuable  advice  as  to  means  of  reaching  the  unex- 
plored territory  that  was  his  objective.  On  June 
3d,  Gumming  started  for  Booby,  to  obtain  guides. — 
Ed.] 

Early  on  the  4th  of  June  we  inspanned  and  con- 
tinued our  march  for  Booby,  a  large  party  of  sav- 
ages still  following  the  wagons.  Before  proceed- 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  —  RHINOCEROS     67 

ing  far  I  was  tempted  by  the  beautiful  appearance 
of  the  country  to  saddle  horses  to  hunt  in  the 
mountains  westward  of  my  course.  I  directed  the 
wagons  to  proceed  a  few  miles  under  guidance  of 
the  natives,  and  there  await  my  arrival.  I  was  ac- 
companied by  Isaac,  who  was  mounted  on  the  Old 
Gray,  and  carried  my  clumsy  Dutch  rifle  of  six  to 
the  pound.*  Two  Bechuanas  followed  us,  leading 
four  of  my  dogs. 

Having  crossed  a  well-wooded  strath,  we  reached 
a  little  crystal  river,  whose  margin  was  trampled 
down  with  the  spoor  of  a  great  variety  of  heavy 
game,  but  especially  of  buffalo  and  rhinoceros. 
We  took  up  the  spoor  of  a  troop  of  buffaloes,  which 
we  followed  along  a  path  made  by  the  heavy  beasts 
of  the  forest  through  a  neck  in  the  hills;  and, 
emerging  from  the  thicket,  we  beheld,  on  the  other 
side  of  a  valley  which  had  opened  upon  us,  a  herd 
of  about  ten  huge  bull  buffaloes.  These  I  at- 
tempted to  stalk,  but  was  defeated  by  a  large  herd 
of  zebras,  which,  getting  our  wind,  charged  past 
and  started  the  buffaloes.  I  ordered  the  Bechu- 
anas to  release  the  dogs ;  and  spurring  Colesberg, 
which  I  rode  for  the  first  time  since  the  affair  with 
the  lioness,  I  gave  chase.  The  buffaloes  crossed 
the  valley  in  front  of  me,  and  made  for  a  succession 

*  Six  balls  to  the  pound.  Smooth-bore,  equal  in  caliber 
to  a  six-gauge  shotgun. 


68  THE  LION  HUNTER 

of  dense  thickets  in  the  hills  to  the  northwest.  As 
they  crossed  the  valley,  by  riding  hard  I  obtained 
a  broad-side  shot  at  the  last  bull,  and  fired  both 
barrels  into  him.  He,  however,  continued  his 
course,  but  I  presently  separated  him,  along  with 
two  other  bulls,  from  the  troop.  My  rifle  being 
a  two-grooved,  which  is  hard  to  load,  I  was  unable 
to  do  so  on  horseback,  and  followed  with  it  empty, 
in  the  hope  of  bringing  them  to  bay. 

In  passing  through  a  grove  of  thorny  trees  I 
lost  sight  of  the  wounded  buffalo;  he  had  turned 
short  and  doubled  back,  a  common  practice  with 
them  when  wounded.  After  following  the  other 
two  at  a  hard  gallop  for  about  two  miles,  I  was 
riding  within  five  }Tards  of  their  huge  broad  sterns. 
They  exhaled  a  strong  bovine  smell,  which  came 
hot  in  my  face.  I  expected  every  minute  that  they 
would  come  to  bay,  and  give  me  time  to  load ;  but 
this  they  did  not  seem  disposed  to  do.  At  length, 
finding  I  had  the  speed  of  them,  I  increased  my 
pace;  and  going  ahead,  I  placed  myself  right  be- 
fore the  finest  bull,  thus  expecting  to  force  him  to 
stand  at  bay;  upon  which  he  instantly  charged 
me  with  a  low  roar,  very  similar  to  the  voice  of  a 
lion.  Colesberg  neatly  avoided  the  charge,  and  the 
bull  resumed  his  northward  course. 

We  now  entered  on  rocky  ground,  and  the  forest 
became  more  dense  as  we  proceeded.  The  buffaloes 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  —  RHINOCEROS     69 

were  evidently  making  for  some  strong  retreat.  I, 
however,  managed  with  much  difficulty  to  hold 
them  in  view,  following  as  best  I  could  through 
thorny  thickets.  Isaac  rode  some  hundred  yards 
behind,  and  kept  shouting  to  me  to  drop  the  pur- 
suit, or  I  should  be  killed.  At  last  the  buffaloes 
suddenly  pulled  up,  and  stood  at  bay  in  a  thicket 
within  twenty  yards  of  me.  Springing  from  my 
horse,  I  hastily  loaded  my  two-grooved  rifle,  which 
I  had  scarcely  completed  when  Isaac  rode  up  and 
inquired  what  had  become  of  the  buffaloes,  little 
dreaming  that  they  were  standing  within  twenty 
yards  of  him.  I  answered  by  pointing  my  rifle 
across  his  horse's  nose,  and  letting  fly  sharp  right 
and  left  at  the  two  buffaloes.  A  headlong  charge, 
accompanied  by  a  muffled  roar,  was  the  result.  In 
an  instant  I  was  round  a  clump  of  tangled  thorn- 
trees;  but  Isaac,  by  the  violence  of  his  efforts  to 
get  his  horse  in  motion,  lost  his  balance,  and  at  the 
same  instant,  his  girths  giving  way,  himself,  his 
saddle,  and  big  Dutch  rifle,  all  came  to  the  ground 
together,  with  a  heavy  crash,  right  in  the  path  of 
the  infuriated  buffaloes. 

Two  of  the  dogs,  which  had  fortunately  that 
moment  joined  us,  met  them  in  their  charge,  and, 
by  diverting  their  attention,  probably  saved  Isaac 
from  instant  destruction.  The  buffaloes  now  took 
up  another  position  in  an  adjoining  thicket.  They 


70  THE  LION  HUNTER 

were  both  badly  wounded,  blotches  and  pools  of 
blood  marking  the  ground  where  they  had  stood. 
The  dogs  rendered  me  assistance  by  taking  up  their 
attention,  and  in  a  few  minutes  these  two  noble 
bulls  breathed  their  last  beneath  the  shade  of  a 
mimosa  grove.  Each  of  them,  in  dying,  repeatedly 
uttered  a  very  striking  low,  deep  moan.  This  I 
subsequently  ascertained  the  buffalo  invariably  ut- 
ters when  in  the  act  of  expiring. 

On  going  up  to  them,  I  was  astonished  to  behold 
their  size  and  powerful  appearance.  Their  horns 
reminded  me  of  the  rugged  trunk  of  an  oak-tree. 
Each  horn  was  upward  of  a  foot  in  breadth  at  the 
base,  and  together  they  effectually  protected  the 
skull  with  a  massive  and  impenetrable  shield.  The 
horns,  descending,  and  spreading  out  horizontally, 
completely  overshadowed  the  animal's  eyes,  impart- 
ing to  him  a  look  the  most  ferocious  and  sinister 
that  can  be  imagined.  On  my  way  to  the  wagons 
I  shot  a  stag  sassayby,  and  while  I  was  engaged  in 
removing  his  head  a  troop  of  about  thirty  doe 
pallahs  cantered  past  me,  followed  by  one  princely 
old  buck.  Snatching  up  my  rifle,  I  made  a  fine 
shot,  and  rolled  him  over  in  the  grass. 

Early  in  the  afternoon  I  dispatched  men  with  a 
pack-horse  to  bring  the  finer  of  the  two  buffalo- 
heads.  It  was  so  ponderous  that  two  powerful  men 
could  with  difficulty  raise  it  from  the  ground.  The 


XIONS  —  BUFFALOES  —  RHINOCEROS     71 

Bechuanas  who  had  accompanied  me,  on  hearing 
of  my  success,  snatched  up  their  shields  and  as- 
•sagais,  and  hastened  to  secure  the  flesh,  nor  did 
J  see  any  more  of  them,  with  the  exception  of  the 
two  Baquaines,  who  remained  with  me,  being  en- 
gaged in  a  plot  with  my  interpreter  to  prevent  my 
penetrating  to  Bamangwato.  Isaac  did  not  soon 
forget  his  adventure  with  the  buffaloes ;  and  at 
night,  over  the  fire,  he  informed  my  men  that  I 
was  mad,  and  that  any  man  who  followed  me  was 
going  headlong  to  his  own  destruction.  At  an 
early  hour  on  the  5th  I  continued  my  march 
through  a  glorious  country  of  hill  and  dale, 
throughout  which  water  was  abundant. 

Beautifully  wooded  hills  and  mountains  stretched 
away  on  every  side ;  some  of  the  mountains  were 
particularly  grand  and  majestic,  their  summits  be- 
ing surrounded  by  steep  precipices  and  abrupt  par- 
apets of  rock,  the  abodes  of  whole  colonies  of  black- 
faced  baboons,  which,  astonished  to  behold  such 
novel  intruders  upon  their  domains,  leisurely  de- 
scended the  craggy  mountain  sides  for  a  nearer  in- 
spection of  our  caravan.  Seating  themselves  to- 
gether upon  a  broad  ledge,  they  seemed  to  hold  a 
council  as  to  the  propriety  of  permitting  us  to  pro- 
ceed further  through  their  territories. 

Having  advanced  about  nine  miles,  I  drew  up  my 
wagons  on  the  bank  of  a  rivulet,  where  the  spoor 


72  THE  LION  HUNTER 

of  large  game  was  extremely  abundant.  In  the 
bed  of  the  stream  I  discovered  the  scaly  skin  of  a 
manis,  which  had  been  newly  eaten  by  some  bird  of 
prey.  This  extraordinary  animal,  which  in  its 
habits  partakes  of  the  nature  of  the  hedgehog,  is 
about  three  feet  in  length,  and  is  covered  all  over 
with  an  impenetrable  coat  of  mail,  consisting  of 
large  rough  scales  about  the  size  and  shape  of  the 
husk  of  an  artichoke ;  these  overlap  one  another  in 
an  extraordinary  and  very  beautiful  manner.  Its 
tail  is  broad,  and  likewise  covered  with  scales;  on 
being  disturbed  it  rolls  itself  into  a  ball.  The 
manis  is  met  with  throughout  the  interior  of  South 
Africa,  but  it  is  rare  and  very  seldom  seen. 

It  was  on  the  4th  of  June  that  I  beheld  for  the 
first  time  the  rhinoceros.  Having  taken  some  cof- 
fee, I  rode  out  unattended,  with  my  rifle,  and  be- 
fore proceeding  far  I  fell  in  with  a  huge  white 
rhinoceros  with  a  large  calf,  standing  in  a  thorny 
grove.  Getting  my  wind,  she  set  off  at  top  speed 
through  thick  thorny  bushes,  the  calf,  as  is  invaria- 
bly the  case,  taking  the  lead,  and  the  mother  guid- 
ing its  course  by  placing  her  horn,  generally  about 
three  feet  in  length,  against  its  ribs.  My  horse 
shied  very  much  at  first,  alarmed  at  the  strange 
appearance  of  "  Chukuroo,"  but  by  a  sharp  appli- 
cation of  spur  and  jambok  I  prevailed  upon  him 
to  follow,  and  presently,  the  ground  improving,  I 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  —  RHINOCEROS     73 

got  alongside,  and,  firing  at  the  gallop,  sent  a  bul- 
let through  her  shoulder.  She  continued  her  pace 
with  blood  streaming  from  the  wound,  and  very 
soon  reached  an  impracticable  thorny  jungle, 
where  I  could  not  follow,  and  instantly  lost  her. 
In  half  an  hour  I  fell  in  with  a  second  rhinoceros, 
being  an  old  bull  of  the  white  variety.  Dismount- 
ing, I  crept  within  twenty  yards,  and  saluted  him 
with  both  barrels  in  the  shoulder,  upon  which  he 
made  off,  uttering  a  loud  blowing  noise,  and  up- 
setting every  thing  that  obstructed  his  progress. 

Shortly  after  this  I  found  myself  on  the  banks 
of  the  stream  beside  which  my  wagons  were  out- 
spanned.  Following  along  its  margin,  I  presently 
beheld  a  bull  of  the  borele,  or  black  rhinoceros, 
standing  within  a  hundred  yards  of  me.  Dis- 
mounting from  my  horse,  I  secured  him  to  a  tree, 
and  then  stalked  within  twenty  yards  of  the  huge 
beast,  under  cover  of  a  large,  strong  bush.  Borele, 
hearing  me  advance,  came  on  to  see  what  it  was, 
and  suddenly  protruded  his  horny  nose  within 
twenty  yards  of  me.  Knowing  well  that  a  front 
shot  would  not  prove  deadly,  I  sprang  to  my  feet 
and  ran  behind  the  bush.  Upon  this  the  villain 
charged,  blowing  loudly,  and  chased  me  round  the 
bush.  Had  his  activity  been  equal  to  his  ugli- 
ness, my  wanderings  would  have  terminated  here, 
but  by  my  superior  agility  I  had  the  advantage 


74  THE  LION  HUNTER 

in  the  turn.  After  standing  a  short  time  eyeing 
me  through  the  bush,  he  got  a  whiff  of  my  wind, 
which  at  once  alarmed  him.  Uttering  a  blowing 
noise,  and  erecting  his  insignificant  yet  saucy- 
looking  tail,  he  wheeled  about,  leaving  me  master 
of  the  field,  when  I  sent  a  bullet  through  his  ribs 
to  teach  him  manners. 

Of  the  rhinoceros  there  are  four  varieties  in 
South  Africa  distinguished  by  the  Bechuanas  by 
the  names  of  the  borele,  or  black  rhinoceros,  the 
keitloa,  or  two-horned  black  rhinoceros,  the  mu- 
chocho,  or  common  white  rhinoceros,  and  the 
kobaoba,  or  long-horned  white  rhinoceros.  Both 
varities  of  the  black  rhinoceros  are  extremely  fierce 
and  dangerous,  and  rush  headlong  and  unpro- 
voked at  any  object  which  attracts  their  attention. 
They  never  attain  much  fat,  and  their  flesh  is 
tough,  and  not  much  esteemed  by  the  Bechuanas. 
Their  food  consists  almost  entirely  of  the  thorny 
branches  of  the  wait-a-bit  thorns.  Their  horns 
are  much  shorter  than  those  of  the  other  varieties, 
seldom  exceeding  eighteen  inches  in  length.  They 
are  finely  polished  with  constant  rubbing  against 
the  trees.  The  skull  is  remarkably  formed,  its; 
most  striking  feature  being  the  tremendous  thick 
ossification  in  which  it  ends  above  the  nostrils. 
It  is  on  this  mass  that  the  horn  is  supported.  The 
horns  are  not  connected  with  the  skull,  being  at- 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  —  RHINOCEROS     75 

tached  merely  by  the  skin,  and  they  may  thus  be 
separated  from  the  head  by  means  of  a  sharp  knife. 
They  are  hard  and  perfectly  solid  throughout, 
.and  are  a  fine  material  for  various  articles,  such 
AS  drinking-cups,  mallets  for  rifles,  handles  for 
turner's  tools,  &c.,  &c.  The  horn  is  capable  of  a 
very  high  polish.  The  eyes  of  the  rhinoceros  are 
small  and  sparkling,  and  do  not  readily  observe 
the  hunter,  provided  he  keeps  to  leeward  of  them. 
The  skin  is  extremely  thick,  and  only  to  be  pene- 
trated by  bullets  hardened  with  solder.  During 
the  day  the  rhinoceros  will  be  found  lying  asleep 
or  standing  indolently  in  some  retired  part  of  the 
forest,  or  under  the  base  of  the  mountains,  shel- 
tered from  the  power  of  the  sun  by  some  friendly 
.grove  of  umbrella-topped  mimosas.  In  the  even- 
ing they  commence  their  nightly  ramble,  and  wan- 
der over  a  great  extent  of  country.  They  usually 
visit  the  fountains  between  the  hours  of  nine  and 
twelve  o'clock  at  night,  and  it  is  on  these  occa- 
sions that  they  may  be  most  successfully  hunted, 
and  with  the  least  danger.  The  black  rhinoceros 
is  subject  to  paroxysms  of  unprovoked  fury,  often 
plowing  up  the  ground  for  several  yards  with  its 
liorns,  and  assaulting  large  bushes  in  the  most  vio- 
lent manner.  On  these  bushes  they  work  for  hours 
with  their  horns,  at  the  same  time  snorting  and 
blowing  loudly,  nor  do  they  leave  them  in  general 


76  THE  LION  HUNTER 

until  they  have  broken  them  into  pieces.  The 
rhinoceros  is  supposed  by  many,  and  by  myself 
among  the  rest,  to  be  the  animal  alluded  to  by 
Job,  chap,  xxxix,  verses  10  and  11,  where  it  is 
written,  "  Canst  thou  bind  the  unicorn  with  his 
band  in  the  furrow?  or  will  he  harrow  the  valleys 
after  thee?  Wilt  thou  trust  him  because  his 
strength  is  great?  or  wilt  thou  leave  thy  labor  to 
him?"  evidently  alluding  to  an  animal  possessed 
of  great  strength  and  of  untamable  disposition, 
for  both  of  which  the  rhinoceros  is  remarkable. 
All  the  four  varieties  delight  to  roll  and  wallow  in 
mud,  with  which  their  rugged  hides  are  generally 
incrusted.  Both  varieties  of  the  black  rhinoceros 
are  much  smaller  and  more  active  than  the  white, 
and  are  so  swift  that  a  horse  with  a  rider  on  his 
back  can  rarely  overtake  them.  The  two  varie- 
ties of  the  white  rhinoceros  are  so  similar  in  habits, 
that  the  description  of  one  will  serve  for  both,, 
the  principal  difference  consisting  in  the  length 
and  set  of  the  anterior  horn ;  that  of  the  muchocho 
averaging  from  two  to  three  feet  in  length,  and 
pointing  backward,  while  the  horn  of  the  kobaoba 
often  exceeds  four  feet  in  length,  and  inclines  for- 
ward from  the  nose  at  an  angle  of  forty-five  de- 
grees. The  posterior  horn  of  either  species  sel- 
dom exceeds  six  or  seven  inches  in  length. 
The  kobaoba  is  the  rarer  of  the  two,  and  it  is 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  —  RHINOCEROS     77 

found  very  far  in  the  interior,  chiefly  to  the  east- 
ward of  the  Limpopo.  Its  horns  are  very  valua- 
ble for  loading  rods,  supplying  a  substance  at 
once  suitable  for  a  sporting  implement  and  ex- 
cellent for  the  purpose.  Both  these  varieties  of 
rhinoceros  attain  an  enormous  size,  being  the  ani- 
mals next  in  magnitude  to  the  elephant.  They 
feed  solely  on  grass,  carry  much  fat,  and  their 
flesh  is  excellent,  being  preferable  to  beef.  They 
are  of  a  much  milder  and  more  inoffensive  disposi- 
tion than  the  black  rhinoceros,  rarely  charging 
their  pursuer.  Their  speed  is  very  inferior  to 
that  of  the  other  varieties,  and  a  person  well 
mounted  can  overtake  and  shoot  them.  The  head 
of  these  is  a  foot  longer  than  that  of  the  borele. 
They  generally  carry  their  heads  low,  whereas  the 
borele,  when  disturbed,  carries  his  very  high,  which 
imparts  to  him  a  saucy  and  independent  air.  Un- 
like the  elephants,  they  never  associate  in  herds, 
but  are  met  with  singly  or  in  pairs.  In  districts 
where 'they  are  abundant,  from  three  to  six  may 
te  found  in  company,  and  I  once  saw  upward  of  a 
dozen  congregated  together  on  some  young  grass, 
but  such  an  occurrence  is  rare. 

Finding  that  rhinoceroses  were  abundant  in  the 
vicinity,  I  resolved  to  halt  a  day  for  the  purpose 
of  hunting,  and  after  an  early  breakfast  on  the 
6th  I  rode  southeast  with  the  two  Baquaines. 


78  THE  LION  HUNTER 

They  led  me  along  the  bases  of  the  mountains, 
through  woody  dells  and  open  glades,  and  we 
eventually  reached  a  grand  forest  gray  with  age. 
Here  we  found  abundance  of  spoor  of  a  variety  of 
game,  and  started  several  herds  of  the  more  com- 
mon varieties. 

At  length  I  observed  an  old  bull  eland  standing 
under  a  tree.  He  was  the  first  that  I  had  seen, 
and  was  a  noble  specimen,  standing  about  six  feet 
high  at  the  shoulder.  Observing  us,  he  made  off 
at  a  gallop,  springing  over  the  trunks  of  decayed 
trees  which  lay  across  his  path;  but  very  soon  he 
reduced  his  pace  to  a  trot.  Spurring  my  horse, 
another  moment  saw  me  riding  hard  behind  him. 
Twice  in  the  thickets  I  lost  sight  of  him,  and  he 
very  nearly  escaped  me ;  but  at  length,  the  ground 
improving,  I  came  up  with  him,  and  rode  within  a 
few  yards  behind  him.  Long  streaks  of  foam  now 
streamed  from  his  mouth,  and  a  profuse  perspira- 
tion had  changed  his  sleek  gray  coat  to  an  ashy 
blue.  Tears  trickled  from  his  large  dark  eye,  and 
it  was  plain  that  the  eland's  hours  were  num- 
bered. Pitching  my  rifle  to  my  shoulder,  I  let  fly 
at  the  gallop,  and  mortally  wounded  him  behind; 
then  spurring  my  horse,  I  shot  past  him  on  his 
right  side,  and  discharged  my  other  barrel  behind 
his  shoulder,  when  the  eland  staggered  for  a  mo- 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  —  RHINOCEROS     79 

ment  and  subsided  in  the  dust.  This  magnificent 
animal  is  by  far  the  largest  of  all  the  antelope 
tribe,  exceeding  a  large  ox  in  size.  It  also  at- 
tains an  extraordinary  condition,  being  often  bur- 
dened with  a  very  large  amount  of  fat.  Its  flesh 
is  most  excellent,  and  is  justly  esteemed  above  all 
others.  It  has  a  peculiar  sweetness,  and  is  tender 
and  fit  for  use  the  moment  the  animal  is  killed. 
Like  the  gemsbok,  the  eland  is  independent  of 
water,  and  frequents  the  borders  of  the  great  Kala- 
hari desert  in  herds  varying  from  ten  to  a  hun- 
dred. It  is  also  generally  diffused  throughout  all 
the  wooded  districts  of  the  interior  where  I  hunted. 
Like  other  varieties  of  deer  and  antelope,  the  old 
males  may  often  be  found  consorting  together 
apart  from  the  females,  and  a  troop  of  these,  when 
in  full  condition,  may  be  likened  to  a  herd  of  stall- 
fed  oxen.  The  eland  has  less  speed  than  any 
other  variety  of  antelope;  and,  by  judicious  riding, 
they  may  be  driven  to  camp  from  a  great  distance. 
In  this  manner  I  have  often  ridden  the  best  bull 
out  of  the  herd,  and  brought  him  within  gunshot  of 
my  wagons,  where  I  could  more  conveniently  cut 
up  and  preserve  the  flesh,  without  the  trouble  of 
sending  men  and  pack-oxen  to  fetch  it.  I  have  re- 
peatedly seen  an  eland  drop  down  dead  at  the  end 
of  a  severe  chase,  owing  to  his  plethoric  habit. 


80  THE  LION  HUNTER 

The  skin  of  the  eland  I  had  just  shot  emitted,  like 
most  other  antelopes,  the  most  delicious  perfume 
of  trees  and  grass. 

The  two  Baquaines  soon  made  their  appear- 
ance, and  seemed  delighted  at  my  success.  Hav- 
ing kindled  a  fire,  they  cut  out  steaks,  which  they 
roasted  on  the  embers:  I  also  cooked  a  steak  for 
myself,  spitting  it  upon  a  forked  branch,  the  other 
end  of  which  I  sharpened  with  my  knife  and  stuck 
into  the  ground. 

Having  eaten  my  steak,  I  rode  to  my  wagons, 
where  I  partook  of  coffee,  and,  having  mounted  a 
fresh  horse,  again  set  forth,  accompanied  by  Carol- 
lus  leading  a  pack-horse,  to  bring  home  the  head 
of  the  eland  and  a  supply  of  the  flesh:  I  took  all 
my  dogs  along  with  me  to  share  in  the  banquet. 
We  had  not  proceeded  far  when  the  dogs  went 
ahead  on  some  scent.  Spurring  my  horse,  I  fol- 
lowed through  the  thorny  bushes  as  best  I  might, 
and,  emerging  on  an  open  glade,  beheld  two  huge 
white  rhinoceroses  trotting  along  before  me.  The 
dogs  attacked  them  with  fury,  and  a  scene  of  in- 
tense excitement  ensued.  The  Old  Gray,  on  ob- 
serving them,  pricked  up  his  ears  and  seemed  only 
half  inclined  to  follow,  but  a  sharp  application  of 
the  spur  reminded  him  of  his  duty,  and  I  was  pres- 
ently riding  within  ten  yards  of  the  stern  of  the 
largest,  and  sent  a  bullet  through  her  back. 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  —  RHINOCEROS     81 

The  Old  Gray  shied  considerably  and  became 
very  unmanageable,  and  on  one  occasion,  in  con- 
sequence, the  rhinoceros,  finding  herself  hemmed 
in  by  a  bend  in  a  water-course,  turned  round  to 
charge:  I  had  a  very  narrow  escape.  Presently, 
galloping  up  on  one  side,  I  gave  her  a  bad  wound 
in  the  shoulder,  soon  after  which  she  came  to  bay 
in  the  dry  bed  of  a  river.  Dismounting  from  the 
horse,  I  commenced  loading,  but  before  this  was 
accomplished  she  was  off  once  more.  I  followed 
her,  putting  on  my  caps  as  I  rode,  and  coming  up 
alongside,  I  made  a  fine  shot  from  the  saddle,  firing 
at  the  gallop.  The  ball  entered  somewhere  near 
the  heart.  On  receiving  this  shot  she  reeled 
about,  while  torrents  of  blood  streamed  from  her 
mouth  and  wounds,  and  presently  she  rolled  over 
and  expired,  uttering  a  shrill  screaming  sound  as 
she  died,  which  rhinoceroses  invariably  do  while 
in  the  agonies  of  death. 

The  chase  had  led  me  close  in  along  the  north- 
ern base  of  a  lofty  detached  mountain,  the  highest 
in  all  that  country.  This  mountain  is  called  by 
the  Bechuanas  the  Mountain  of  the  Eagles.  The 
eland  which  I  had  shot  in  the  morning  lay  some- 
where to  the  southward  of  this  mountain,  but  far 
in  the  level  forest.  Having  rounded  the  moun- 
tain, I  began  to  recognize  the  ground,  and  pres- 
ently I  had  the  satisfaction  to  behold  a  few  vul- 


82  THE  LION  HUNTER 

tures  soaring  over  the  forest  in  advance,  and,  on 
proceeding  a  short  distance  further,  large  groups 
of  these  birds  were  seated  on  the  gray  and  weather- 
beaten  branches  of  the  loftiest  old  trees  of  the  for- 
est. This  was  a  certain  sign  that  the  eland  was 
not  far  distant ;  and  on  raising  my  voice  and  loudly 
calling  on  the  name  of  Carollus,  I  was  instantly 
answered  by  that  individual,  who,  heedless  of  his 
master's  fate,  was  actively  employed  in  cooking 
for  himself  a  choice  steak  from  the  dainty  rump 
of  the  eland.  That  night  I  slept  beneath  the 
blue  and  starry  canopy  of  heaven.  My  sleep  was 
light  and  sweet,  and  no  rude  dreams  or  cankering 
cares  disturbed  the  equanimity  of  my  repose. 


CHAPTER  III 

GIRAFFES KHINOCEBOS 

ON  tlie  llth  of  June  we  were  in  the  yoke 
soon  after  daybreak.  It  was  a  bitter 
cold  morning,  ice  a  quarter  of  an  inch 
in  thickness  covering  the  pools  of  water.  We 
were  now  clear  of  the  extensive  mountain  ranges 
through  which  our  road  had  wound  since  leaving 
Bakatla,  and  were  approaching  toward  the  south- 
eastern limits  of  the  great  Kalahari  desert,  on 
whose  borders  Booby  is  situated.  We  continued 
our  march,  steering  northwest,  in  which  direction 
the  distant  blue  hills  (pointed  out  to  me  as  the 
position  of  Booby)  shot  abruptly  above  the  un- 
varied sameness  of  the  intervening  forest  scenery. 
To  the  west,  one  eternal  ocean-like  expanse  of 
gray  forest  stretched  away  in  a  level  and  un- 
broken plain,  terminated  only  by  the  far  horizon. 
Having  performed  a  march  of  three  hours,  we 
crossed  a  small  stream,  where  I  outspanned  to 
breakfast. 

This  day  was  to  me  rather  a  memorable  one,  as 
the  first  on  which  I  saw  and  slew  the  lofty,  grace- 
ful-looking giraffe  or  camelopard,  with  which,  dur- 

83 


84  THE  LION  HUNTER 

ing  many  years  of  my  life,  I  had  longed  to  form  an 
acquaintance. 

These  gigantic  and  exquisitely  beautiful  ani- 
mals, which  are  admirably  formed  by  nature  to 
adorn  the  fair  forests  that  clothe  the  boundless 
plains  of  the  interior,  are  widely  distributed 
throughout  the  interior  of  Southern  Africa,  but 
are  nowhere  to  be  met  with  in  great  numbers.  In 
countries  unmolested  by  the  intrusive  foot  of  man, 
the  giraffe  is  found  generally  in  herds  varying  from 
twelve  to  sixteen ;  but  I  have  not  unf requently  met 
with  herds  containing  thirty  individuals,  and  on 
one  occasion  I  counted  forty  together;  this,  how- 
ever, was  owing  to  chance,  and  about  sixteen  may 
be  reckoned  as  the  average  number  of  a  herd. 
These  herds  are  composed  of  giraffes  of  various 
sizes,  from  the  young  giraffe  of  nine  or  ten  feet 
in  height,  to  the  dark  chestnut-colored  old  bull  of 
the  herd,  whose  exalted  head  towers  above  his  com- 
panions, generally  attaining  to  a  height  of  up- 
ward of  eighteen  feet. 

The  females  are  of  lower  stature  and  more  deli- 
cately formed  than  the  males,  their  height  averag- 
ing from  sixteen  to  seventeen  feet.  Some  writers 
have  discovered  ugliness  and  a  want  of  grace  in 
the  giraffe,  but  I  consider  that  he  is  one  of  the 
most  strikingly  beautiful  animals  in  the  creation; 
and  when  a  herd  of  them  is  seen  scattered  through 


GIRAFFES  —  RHINOCEROS  85 

a  grove  of  the  picturesque  parasol-topped  acacias 
which  adorn  their  native  plains,  and  on  whose  up- 
permost shoots  they  are  enabled  to  browse  by  the 
colossal  height  with  which  nature  has  so  admira- 
bly endowed  them,  he  must  indeed  be  slow  of  con- 
ception who  fails  to  discover  both  grace  and  dig- 
nity in  all  their  movements.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  every  animal  is  seen  to  the  greatest  ad- 
vantage in  the  haunts  which  nature  destined  him 
to  adorn,  and  among  the  various  living  creatures 
which  beautify  this  fair  creation  I  have  often 
traced  a  remarkable  resemblance  between  the  ani- 
mal and  the  general  appearance  of  the  locality  in 
which  it  is  found.  This  I  first  remarked  at  an 
early  period  of  my  life,  when  entomology  occupied 
a  part  of  my  attention. 

No  person  following  this  interesting  pursuit  can 
fail  to  observe  the  extraordinary  likeness  which 
insects  bear  to  the  various  abodes  in  which  they  are 
met  with.  Thus,  among  the  long  green  grass  we 
find  a  variety  of  long  green  insects,  whose  legs 
and  antennae  so  resemble  the  shoots  emanating  from 
the  stalks  of  the  grass  that  it  requires  a  practiced 
eye  to  distinguish  them.  Throughout  sandy  dis- 
tricts varieties  of  insects  are  met  with  of  a  color 
similar  to  the  sand  which  they  inhabit.  Among 
the  green  leaves  of  the  various  trees  of  the  forest 
innumerable  leaf-colored  insects  are  to  be  found; 


86  THE  LION  HUNTER 

while,  closely  adhering  to  the  rough  gray  bark 
of  these  forest-trees,  we  observe  beautifully-col- 
ored gray-looking  moths  of  various  patterns,  yet 
altogether  so  resembling  the  bark  as  to  be  invisible 
to  the  passing  observer. 

In  like  manner,  among  quadrupeds  I  have  traced 
a  corresponding  analogy,  for,  even  in  the  case  of 
the  stupendous  elephant,  the  ashy  color  of  his  hide 
so  corresponds  with  the  general  appearance  of 
the  gray  thorny  jungles  which  he  frequents 
throughout  the  day,  that  a  person  unaccustomed 
to  hunting  elephants,  standing  on  a  commanding 
situation,  might  look  down  upon  a  herd  and  fail 
to  detect  their  presence.  And  further,  in  the  case 
of  the  giraffe,  which  is  invariably  met  with  among 
venerable  forests,  where  innumerable  blasted  and 
weather-beaten  trunks  and  stems  occur,  I  have  re- 
peatedly been  in  doubt  as  to  the  presence  of  a 
troop  of  them  until  I  had  recourse  to  my  spy- 
glass ;  and  on  referring  the  case  to  my  savage  at- 
tendants, I  have  known  even  their  optics  to  fail, 
at  one  time  mistaking  these  dilapidated  trunks  for 
camelopards,  and  again  confounding  real  camelo- 
pards  with  these  aged  veterans  of  the  forest. 

Although  we  had  now  been  traveling  many  days 
through  the  country  of  the  giraffe,  and  had 
marched  through  forests  in  which  their  spoor  was 
abundant,  our  eyes  had  not  yet  been  gifted  with  a 


GIRAFFES  —  RHINOCEROS  87 

sight  of  "  Tootla  "  himself ;  it  was  therefore  with 
indescribable  pleasure  that,  on  the  evening  of  the 
llth,  I  beheld  a  troop  of  these  interesting  animals. 

Our  breakfast  being  finished,  I  resumed  my 
journey  through  an  endless  gray  forest  of  cameel- 
dorn  and  other  trees,  the  country  slightly  undu- 
lating and  grass  abundant.  A  little  before  the 
sun  went  down  my  driver  remarked  to  me,  "  I  was 
just  going  to  say,  sir,  that  that  old  tree  was  a 
camelopard."  On  looking  where  he  pointed,  I 
saw  that  the  old  tree  was  indeed  a  camelopard,  and, 
on  casting  my  eyes  a  little  to  the  right,  I  beheld 
a  troop  of  them  standing  looking  at  us,  their  heads 
actually  towering  above  the  trees  of  the  forest. 
It  was  imprudent  to  commence  a  chase  at  such  a 
late  hour,  especially  in  a  country  of  so  level  a 
character,  where  the  chances  were  against  my  be- 
ing able  to  regain  my  wagons  that  night.  I,  how- 
ever, resolved  to  chance  every  thing;  and  direct- 
ing my  men  to  catch  and  saddle  Colesberg,  I  pro- 
ceeded in  haste  to  buckle  on  my  shooting-belt  and 
spurs,  and  in  two  minutes  I  was  in  the  saddle. 

The  giraffes  stood  looking  at  the  wagons  until 
I  was  within  sixty  yards  of  them,  when,  galloping 
round  a  thick  bushy  tree,  under  cover  of  which 
I  had  ridden,  I  suddenly  beheld  a  sight  the  most 
astounding  that  a  sportsman's  eye  can  encounter. 
Before  me  stood  a  troop  of  ten  colossal  giraffes, 


88  THE  LION  HUNTER 

the  majority  of  which  were  from  seventeen  to  eight- 
een feet  high.  On  beholding  me  they  at  once 
made  off,  twisting  their  long  tails  over  their  backs, 
making  a  loud  switching  noise  with  them,  and  can- 
tered along  at  an  easy  pace,  which,  however, 
obliged  Colesberg  to  put  his  best  foot  foremost  to 
keep  up  with  them. 

The  sensations  which  I  felt  on  this  occasion  were 
different  from  any  thing  that  I  had  before  experi- 
enced during  a  long  sporting  career.  My  senses 
were  so  absorbed  by  the  wondrous  and  beautiful 
sight  before  me  that  I  rode  along  like  one  en- 
tranced, and  felt  inclined  to  disbelieve  that  I  was 
hunting  living  things  of  this  world.  The  ground 
was  firm  and  favorable  for  riding.  At  every 
stride  I  gained  upon  the  giraffes,  and  after  a  short 
burst  at  a  swinging  gallop  I  was  in  the  middle 
of  them,  and  turned  the  finest  cow  out  of  the  herd. 
On  finding  herself  driven  from  her  comrades  and 
hotly  pursued,  she  increased  her  pace,  and  can- 
tered along  with  tremendous  strides,  clearing  an 
amazing  extent  of  ground  at  every  bound;  while 
her  neck  and  breast,  coming  in  contact  with  the 
dead  old  branches  of  the  trees,  were  continually 
strewing  them  in  my  path. 

In  a  few  minutes  I  was  riding  within  five  yards 
of  her  stern,  and,  firing  at  the  gallop,  I  sent  a 
bullet  into  her  back.  Increasing  my  pace,  I  next 


GIRAFFES  —  RHINOCEROS  89 

rode  alongside,  and,  placing  the  muzzle  of  my  rifle 
within  a  few  feet  of  her,  I  fired  my  second  shot 
behind  the  shoulder;  the  ball,  however,  seemed  to 
have  little  effect.  I  then  placed  myself  directly 
in  front,  when  she  came  to  a  walk.  Dismounting, 
I  hastily  loaded  both  barrels,  putting  in  double 
charges  of  powder.  Before  this  was  accomplished 
she  was  off  at  a  canter.  In  a  short  time  I  brought 
her  to  a  stand  in  the  dry  bed  of  a  water-course, 
where  I  fired  at  fifteen  yards,  aiming  where  I 
thought  the  heart  lay,  upon  which  she  again  made 
off.  Having  loaded,  I  followed,  and  had  very 
nearly  lost  her;  she  had  turned  abruptly  to  the 
left,  and  was  far  out  of  sight  among  the  trees. 
Once  more  I  brought  her  to  a  stand,  and  dis- 
mounted from  my  horse.  There  we  stood  to- 
gether alone  in  the  wild  wood. 

I  gazed  in  wonder  at  her  extreme  beauty,  while 
her  soft  dark  eye,  with  its  silky  fringe,  looked 
down  imploringly  at  me,  and  I  really  felt  a  pang 
of  sorrow  in  this  moment  of  triumph  for  the  blood 
I  was  shedding.  Pointing  my  rifle  toward  the 
skies,  I  sent  a  bullet  through  her  neck.  On  re- 
ceiving it,  she  reared  high  on  her  hind  legs,  and 
fell  backward  with  a  heavy  crash,  making  the 
earth  shake  around  her.  A  thick  stream  of  dark 
blood  spouted  out  from  the  wound,  her  colossa] 
limbs  quivered  for  a  moment,  and  she  expired 


90  THE  LION  HUNTER 

1  had  little  time  to  contemplate  the  prize  I  had 
won.  Night  was  fast  setting  in,  and  it  was  very 
questionable  if  I  should  succeed  in  regaining  my 
wagons;  so,  having  cut  off  the  tail  of  the  giraffe, 
which  was  adorned  with  a  bushy  tuft  of  flowing 
black  hair,  I  took  "  one  last  fond  look,"  and  rode 
hard  for  the  spoor  of  the  wagons,  which  I  suc- 
ceeded in  reaching  just  as  it  was  dark. 

No  pen  nor  words  can  convey  to  a  sportsman 
what  it  is  to  ride  in  the  midst  of  a  troop  of  gigantic 
giraffes:  it  must  be  experienced  to  be  understood. 
They  emitted  a  powerful  perfume,  which  in  the 
chase  came  hot  in  my  face,  reminding  me  of  the 
smell  of  a  hive  of  heather  honey  in  September. 
The  greater  part  of  this  chase  led  through  bushes 
of  the  wait-a-bit  thorn  of  the  most  virulent  de- 
scription, which  covered  my  legs  and  arms  with 
blood  long  before  I  had  killed  the  giraffe.  I  rode 
as  usual  in  the  kilt,  with  my  arms  bare  to  my 
shoulder.  It  was  Chapelpark  of  Badenoch's  old 
gray  kilt,  but  in  this  chase  it  received  a  death  blow 
which  it  never  afterward  recovered.  .  .  . 

[On  the  13th  Gumming  arrived  at  Booby,  a  vil- 
lage of  Bechuanas,  where,  after  various  discour- 
agements, he  obtained  "  guides  "  for  the  interior. 
These  men  tried  to  lead  him  astray,  but  he  de- 
termined to  advance  in  spite  of  them,  relying  upon 
his  compass  and  trusting  to  luck. — Ed.~\ 


GIRAFFES  —  RHINOCEROS  91 

On  the  morning  of  the  16th  a  large  party  of 
Caachy's  men  were  still  encamped  beside  us,  and 
were  under  the  impression  that  they  had  succeeded 
in  prevailing  upon  me  to  follow  them.  Having 
filled  all  my  water-casks,  I  ordered  my  men  to 
inspan,  the  Bechuanas  cracking  their  jokes  and 
fancying  that  I  should  ride  east  as  they  led;  but, 
to  their  astonishment,  having  inspanned,  I  told 
them  that  they  had  better  all  return  to  their  cap- 
tains, as  I  would  shoot  no  more  game  for  them, 
and  I  then  ordered  my  men  to  ride  for  a  conspicu- 
ous tree  in  the  distance,  bearing  N.N.E.  The 
Bechuanas  sat  still  for  some  time  to  see  how  I 
would  steer,  and  presently  they  shouldered  their 
assagais  and  followed  in  our  wake.  This  was  a 
bold  step  on  my  part :  the  country  looked  very  un- 
likely for  water,  and  the  Bechuanas  swore  that 
there  was  none  for  seven  days'  journey  in  that  di- 
rection. 

Our  march  lay  through  a  boundless  forest,  with 
no  hill  or  landmark  to  give  me  an  idea  where  to 
search  for  water.  Fortune,  however,  followed  me 
here  as  usual :  if  I  had  lived  all  my  life  in  the  coun- 
try, I  could  not  have  taken  a  more  direct  course 
for  the  spot  I  wished  to  reach.  After  we  had  pro- 
ceeded some  miles,  a  rising  ground  arose  in  our 
path,  from  the  summit  of  which  I  fancied  that  a 
view  might  be  obtained  of  the  country  in  advance. 


92  THE  LION  HUNTER 

This  view  only  served  to  dampen  my  hopes,  the 
prospect  exhibiting  one  slightly  undulating, 
ocean-like  expanse  of  forest  and  dense  thorny 
jungles. 

We  halted  for  a  few  minutes  to  breathe  the  oxen, 
when  the  Bechuanas  all  came  up,  and  sat  down  on 
the  ground  beside  us.  I  asked  them  why  they 
had  not  gone  home  as  I  had  told  them.  They  re- 
plied that  they  followed  me  because  they  were 
afraid  that  I  should  lose  myself  and  my  oxen. 
We  held  on,  steering  by  compass  N.N.E.  All  the 
Bechuanas  now  forsook  me  except  the  four  ill-fa- 
vored men  whom  Caachy  had  pointed  out  to  me 
as  my  guides.  These  four,  contrary  to  my  ex- 
pectations, followed  in  our  wake  at  some  distance. 
I  walked  a  hundred  yards  in  advance  of  the  wagons 
with  my  compass  in  my  hand,  having  ordered  the 
men  to  follow  my  footsteps. 

After  traveling  for  several  hours  the  country 
became  more  open,  and  presently  we  entered  upon 
a  wide  tract  that  had  been  recently  burned  by  the 
Bakalahari,  or  wild  inhabitants  of  the  desert. 
Here  the  trees  and  bushes  stood  scorched  and 
burned,  and  there  was  not  a  blade  of  grass  to 
cheer  the  eye  —  blackness  and  ashes  stretched 
away  on  every  side  wherever  I  turned  my  anxious 
glance.  I  felt  my  heart  sink  within  me  as  I  be- 
held in  dim  perspective  my  famished  and  thirsty 


GIRAFFES  —  RHINOCEROS  93 

oxen  returning  some  days  hence  over  this  hope- 
less desert,  all  my  endeavors  to  find  water  having 
failed,  and  all  my  bright  hopes  of  elephant-hunt- 
ing dashed  and  crowned  with  bitter  disappoint- 
ment: it  was,  indeed,  a  cheerless  prospect.  I  had 
no  friend  to  comfort  or  advise  me,  and  I  could 
hear  my  men  behind  me  grumbling,  and  swearing 
that  they  would  return  home,  the  guides,  who  had 
now  come  up,  asking  them  why  they  followed  me  to 
destruction. 

At  length  we  reached  the  further  side  of  this 
dreary  waste  of  ashes,  but  now  an  equally  cheer- 
less prospect  was  before  me.  We  entered  a  vast 
forest,  gray  with  extreme  age,  and  so  thick  that 
we  could  not  see  forty  yards  in  advance.  We 
were  obliged  occasionally  to  halt  the  wagons  and 
cut  down  trees  and  branches  to  admit  of  their 
passing;  and,  to  make  matters  still  worse,  the 
country  had  become  extremely  heavy,  the  wagons 
sinking  deep  in  soft  sand.  My  men  began  to  show 
a  mutinous  spirit  by  expressing  their  opinions 
aloud  in  my  presence.  I  remonstrated  with  them, 
and  told  them  that,  if  I  did  not  bring  them  to 
water  next  day  before  the  sun  was  under,  they 
might  turn  the  oxen  on  their  spoor.  We  con- 
tinued our  march  through  this  dense  forest  until 
nightfall,  when  I  halted  for  the  night  beside  a 
wide-spreading-tree :  here  I  cast  my  oxen  loose  for 


94  THE  LION  HUNTER 

an  hour,  and  then  secured  them  on  the  yokes  by 
moonlight. 

I  felt  very  sad  and  unhappy  in  my  mind,  for  I 
considered  that  the  chances  were  against  me,  and 
I  shuddered  at  the  idea  of  returning  to  the  colony, 
after  coming  so  very  far,  without  shooting  or  even 
seeing  what  my  heart  most  ardently  desired,  viz.,  a 
wild  bull  elephant  free  in  his  native  jungle.  I 
took  some  wine,  and,  coming  to  the  fire  which  the 
men  had  kindled  for  the  night  beneath  a  magnifi- 
cent old  cameel-dorn  tree,  I  affected  great  cheer- 
fulness and  contentment,  and,  laughing  at  the  four 
Bechuanas,  I  told  them  that  I  was  not  a  child  that 
they  should  lead  me  astray,  but  that  I  was  an 
old  warrior  and  a  cunning  hunter,  and  could  find 
my  way  in  strange  lands.  I  laughed,  but  it  was  the 
laugh  of  despair,  for  I  expected  that  next  evening 
they  would  be  laughing  at  me,  on  seeing  me  com- 
pelled to  retrace  my  steps.  One  of  the  greatest, 
difficulties  that  presented  itself  was,  that,  if  I  rode 
in  advance  to  search  for  water,  it  would  be  almost 
impossible  to  find  my  way  back  to  the  wagons 
through  that  vast  and  trackless  forest. 

I  went  to  bed,  but  tried  in  vain  to  sleep.  Care 
and  anxiety  kept  me  awake  until  a  little  before 
morning,  when  I  fell  asleep  for  a  short  time,  and 
dreamed  that  I  had  ridden  in  advance  and  found 
water.  Day  dawned,  and  I  awoke  in  sorrow.  My 


GIRAFFES  —  RHINOCEROS  95 

hopes  were  like  a  flickering  flame;  care  sat  upon 
my  brow.  I  cast  loose  my  horses  and  oxen,  and 
prepared  some  breakfast ;  I  then  directed  my  men 
to  catch  "  The  Cow  "  and  "  Colesberg,"  and  give 
them  some  corn.  I  asked  the  guides  if  they  could 
lead  to  me  to  water  in  a  northerly  direction,  when 
they  replied  that  no  man  ever  found  water  in  the 
desert.  I  did  not  talk  more  with  them,  but  or- 
dered my  men  to  remain  quiet  during  the  day  and 
listen  for  shots,  lest  I  should  lose  my  way  in  re- 
turning; and  having  given  them  ammunition  to 
reply,  I  saddled  up  and  held  N.N.E.  through  thick 
forests,  accompanied  by  Kleinboy.  The  ground 
was  heavy,  being  soft  sand,  and  the  grass  grew 
at  intervals  in  detached  bunches.  We  rode  on 
without  a  break  or  a  change,  and  found  no  spoor 
of  wild  animals  to  give  me  hope.  I  saw  one  duiker, 
but  these  antelopes  are  met  with  in  the  desert,  and 
are  independent  of  water. 

At  last  we  reached  a  more  open  part  of  the 
forest,  and,  emerging  from  the  thicket,  I  per- 
ceived a  troop  of  six  or  eight  beautiful  giraffes 
standing  looking  at  us  about  two  hundred  yards 
to  my  right;  but  this  was  no  time  to  give  them 
chase,  which  I  felt  very  much  inclined  to  do.  I 
allowed  them  to  depart  in  peace,  and  continued 
my  search  for  water.  In  this  open  glade  I  found 
two  or  three  vleys  that  had  once  contained  a  little 


96  THE  LION  HUNTER 

water,  but  they  were  now  hard  and  dry.  Re- 
entering  the  dense  forest,  we  held  one  point  more 
to  the  east,  and  rode  on  as  before.  For  miles  we 
continued  our  search,  until  my  hopes  sank  to  a 
very  low  ebb;  and  Kleinboy  swore  that  we  should 
never  regain  the  wagons.  At  length  I  perceived 
a  sassayby  walking  before  me.  This  antelope 
drinks  every  day.  "  Fresh  vigor  with  the  hope 
returned." 

I  once  more  pressed  forward  and  cantered  along, 
heedless  of  the  distance  which  already  intervened 
between  me  and  my  camp  and  the  remonstrances 
of  my  attendant,  who  at  last  reined  up  his  jaded 
steed,  and  said  that  he  would  not  follow  me  further 
to  my  own  destruction.  I  then  pointed  to  the  top 
of  a  distant  gray  tree  that  stretched  its  bare  and 
weather-beaten  branches  above  the  heads  of  its  sur- 
rounding comrades,  and  said  that,  if  we  saw  noth- 
ing to  give  us  hope  when  we  reached  that  tree,  I 
would  abandon  the  search,  and  hunt  during  that 
season  in  Sichely's  mountains  to  the  east  of 
Booby. 

But  fate  had  ordained  that  I  should  penetrate 
further  into  the  interior  of  Africa,  and  before  I 
reached  the  old  gray  tree  I  observed  a  small  flight 
of  Namaqua  partridges  flying  across  my  path  in 
a  westerly  direction.  It  was  impossible  to  tell, 
until  I  should  see  a  second  flock  of  these,  flying 


GIRAFFES  —  RHINOCEROS  97 

at  a  different  angle,  whether  the  first  flock  had 
come  from  or  were  going  to  water.  For  this  I 
accordingly  watched,  nor  watched  long  in  vain. 
A  considerable  distance  ahead  of  me  I  detected  a 
second  flight  of  these  birds  likewise  flying  westerly ; 
and  it  was  evident,  from  their  inclination,  that  they 
held  for  the  same  point  as  the  first  had  done. 
Shortly  afterward  the  first  flight  returned,  flying 
high  above  our  heads,  uttering  their  soft,  melodi- 
ous cry  of  "  pretty  dear,  pretty  dear."  I  then 
rode  in  the  direction  from  which  the  birds  had 
come,  and  before  proceeding  far  we  discovered  a 
slight  hollow  running  north  and  south.  This  I 
determined  to  follow,  and  presently  I  discovered 
fresh  spoor  of  a  rhinoceros:  this  was  a  certain 
sign  that  water  was  somewhere  not  very  distant. 

Once  more  my  dying  hopes  revived.  I  looked 
north  at  the  glorious  sky,  which  on  this  particular 
day  was  quite  different  from  any  thing  I  had  be- 
held for  months.  It  was  like  one  of  those  glorious 
days  when  the  bright  blue  sky  in  my  own  dark 
land  is  seen  through  ten  thousand  joyous  fleecy 
clouds,  and  all  nature  seems  to  strive  in  its  sunny 
hour  to  make  poor  unhappy  man  forget  his  cares 
and  sorrows.  I  took  it  as  a  favorable  omen,  and, 
stirring  my  good  and  lively  steed,  I  cantered  along 
the  glade.  The  hollow  took  a  turn,  on  rounding 
which  I  perceived  that  I  was  in  an  elevated  part 


98  THE  LION  HUNTER 

of  the  forest ;  and  I,  for  the  first  time,  obtained  a 
distant  view  of  the  surrounding  scenery. 

Far  as  the  eye  could  strain,  it  was  all  forest 
without  a  break ;  but  there  was  now  an  undulating 
country  before  me,  instead  of  the  hopeless  level 
through  which  I  had  come.  I  felt  certain  of  suc- 
cess. We  soon  discovered  vleys  that  had  recently 
contained  water,  and  at  last  a  large  pool  of  ex- 
cellent water,  enough  to  supply  my  cattle  for  sev- 
eral days.  This  was  to  me  a  joyous  moment;  it 
was  a  grand  step  toward  attaining  my  object, 
and,  as  my  difficulties  had  seemed  to  increase,  my 
wish  and  determination  to  overcome  them  had  be- 
come stronger.  I  knew  that,  whether  I  reached 
Bamangwato  or  not,  if  I  could  now  only  manage 
to  travel  north  about  eight  days'  journey  I  should 
fall  in  with  elephants. 

I  was  extremely  fortunate  in  regaining  my 
wagons,  which  I  did  without  a  turn  in  my  course. 
On  reaching  them  I  at  first  pretended  not  to  have 
discovered  water;  and  I  said  to  the  guides,  "  There 
is  nothing  but  dense  wood  in  this  country ;  can  you 
not  show  me  water?  my  oxen  will  die."  They  re- 
plied that  they  knew  the  country  from  infancy, 
and  that  if  I  wanted  water  I  must  travel  till  sun- 
set, steering  south  of  east.  I  then  suprised  them 
by  saying,  "  Now  I  see  that  you  wish  to  lead  me 
astray;  for  I  have  seen  abundance  of  water,  and 


GIRAFFES  —  RHINOCEROS  99 

I  will  find  my  way  to  Bamangwato,  though  you 
do  all  in  your  power  to  prevent  me." 

Having  inspanned,  we  held  for  the  water,  which 
I  succeeded  in  reaching  at  a  late  hour.  I  still  felt 
very  anxious  and  full  of  care;  but  this  first  bold 
and  successful  step  seemed  to  have  made  a  strong 
impression  on  the  guides,  who  still  followed  in  our 
wake.  It  appeared  to  me  that  the  orders  they 
had  received  from  their  chief  were  to  endeavor  to 
lead  me  astray,  and  bring  me  to  Sichely ;  but  that, 
in  the  event  of  my  finding  the  way  myself,  they 
were  to  accompany  me  to  Sicomy,  to  insure  his 
friendship,  and  to  convince  him  of  their  chief's  sin- 
cerity. 

On  the  morning  of  the  18th,  shortly  after  the 
day  dawned,  I  was  lying  awake,  thinking  whether 
I  should  hunt  or  explore  the  country  in  advance, 
my  men  having,  as  usual,  wasted  their  food  and 
already  consumed  the  bull  wildebeest  which  I  had 
shot  for  them  two  days  previously,  when  suddenly 
I  heard  the  voices  of  men  a  little  distance  down 
the  glade.  Fortune  seemed  determined  to  favor 
me.  The  guides,  who  sat  by  our  fire,  had  not  heard 
the  voices;  if  they  had  been  aware  of  men  being 
near  us,  they  would  have  run  to  meet  them,  and 
warned  them  to  lead  me  astray.  Springing  from 
my  bed,  I  hastily  donned  my  attire,  and,  proceed- 
ing in  the  direction  of  the  voices,  I  discovered  a 


100  THE  LION  HUNTER 

party  of  ten  Bechuanas  squatted  round  a  fire 
which  they  had  just  kindled.  These  men  belonged 
to  Booby;  they  had  been  hunting  jackals  at  a 
place  called  Bootlonamy,  which  is  half  way  from 
Booby  to  Bamangwato,  and  they  were  now  return- 
ing home  with  their  spoils.  They  at  once  pointed 
out  to  me  the  correct  line  of  march  for  Bamang- 
wato, and  advised  me  of  a  fine  vley  in  the  forest  one 
march  in  advance. 

Having  breakfasted,  I  inspanned,  and  after  trek- 
king for  about  six  hours  through  dense  forest  we 
reached  the  vley.  On  the  march  it  was  necessary 
to  have  constant  recourse  to  our  axes  to  clear  a 
path  for  the  wagons.  I  was  much  delighted  with 
the  little  loch  to  which  we  then  came:  it  covered 
about  an  acre,  in  shape  a  circle,  and  its  margin 
was  imprinted  with  the  fresh  spoor  of  a  variety 
of  wild  animals,  such  as  giraffe,  rhinoceros,  buf- 
falo, sassayby,  pallah,  zebra,  lion,  &c.  We  en- 
camped beneath  two  wide-spreading  shady  trees, 
and  I  at  once  saddled  up,  and  rode  forth  with 
Kleinboy  to  hunt,  our  flesh  being  at  an  end. 

I  had  ridden  about  half  a  mile  in  a  northeast- 
erly course,  through  shady  groves  of  mokala-trees, 
when  suddenly  I  observed  a  stately  giraffe  walk 
slowly  across  my  path,  and  crop  the  leaves  from 
the  upper  branches  of  a  mokala-tree  about  a  hun- 
dred yards  in  advance.  This  was  a  fine  look-out: 


GIRAFFES  —  RHINOCEROS          101 

with  hasty  hand  I  shifted  my  saddle  from  "  Sun- 
day "  to  the  Old  Gray,  and  ordering  Kleinboy  to 
set  the  pack-saddle  on  "  Sunday  "  and  listen  for 
shots,  I  rode  slowly  toward  the  giraffe.  As  I  ad- 
vanced I  perceived  another  giraffe  standing  look- 
ing at  me  a  little  to  my  left,  which  gave  the  alarm 
by  starting  off,  when  I  stirred  my  steed,  and  on 
rounding  an  intervening  clump  of  trees  I  came  full 
in  sight  of  a  troop  of  eight  giraffes  cantering  be- 
fore me.  In  another  minute  I  was  in  the  middle 
of  them,  and  selecting  a  fine  fat  cow,  I  rode  hard 
at  her,  and  fired  my  first  shot  at  the  gallop.  She 
got  it  through  her  ribs,  and  the  blood  flowed 
freely.  Again  and  again  I  broke  her  from  the 
troop,  and  again  she  joined  them.  At  length  I 
fired  my  second  shot  at  her  stern ;  after  which,  by 
heading  her,  I  brought  her  to  a  stand,  when  I 
sprang  from  the  fidgety,  snorting  Old  Gray,  and, 
hastily  loading  both  barrels,  I  fired  right  and 
left  for  her  heart.  Her  colossal  frame  shook  con- 
vulsively for  a  few  seconds,  when,  tottering  for- 
ward, she  subsided  in  the  dust  with  tremendous  vio- 
lence. 

Four  single-shots  brought  Kleinboy  and  the 
pack-horse,  and  also  Isaac  with  the  four  guides. 
The  chase  was  all  in  thick  forest,  and  had  led  me 
to  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  the  wagons.  The 
hungry  guides  seemed  enchanted  at  the  prospect  of 


102  THE  LION  HUNTER 

such  a  banquet.  They  at  once  kindled  a  fire,  and 
slept  that  night  beside  the  carcass.  I  returned 
to  the  wagons  with  my  horses  laden  with  flesh. 
My  mind  was  now  once  more  at  rest.  I  went  to 
my  bed  and  slept  soundly.  During  the  night  lions 
roared  around  us. 

On  the  19th  I  rose  at  dawn  of  day,  and  took  a 
stroll  through  the  forest.  Here  I  found  some  old 
dung  of  elephants,  and  observed  several  full- 
grown  trees  torn  up  by  the  roots,  and  others  that 
had  been  shivered  by  the  gigantic  strength  of  those 
animals.  The  guides,  finding  that  they  prevailed 
nothing,  at  length  volunteered  to  lead  me  to  Ba- 
mangwato  by  a  northerly  course,  and  promised 
that  I  should  not  lack  for  water.  We  inspanned, 
and  held  on  till  sundown,  proceeding  in  a  north- 
easterly course,  when  we  halted  in  dense  forest 
without  water.  Our  march  lay  through  an  in- 
teresting country  well  adapted  for  hunting  the 
eland  and  giraffe.  The  forest  was  in  many  places 
thin  and  open,  with  here  and  there  gigantic  old 
trees  of  picturesque  appearance  standing  de- 
tached, some  half  dead,  and  others  falling  to 
pieces  from  age.  The  soil  was  soft  yet  firm,  and 
admirably  suited  for  riding.  The  spoor  of  eland 
and  giraffe  was  abundant. 

On  the  20th  we  inspanned  at  dawn  of  day,  and, 
having  proceeded  about  five  miles,  reached  a  mis- 


GIRAFFES  —  RHINOCEROS          103 

erable  little  kraal  or  village  of  Bakalahari.  Here 
was  a  vley  of  water,  beside  which  we  outspanned. 
Starvation  was  written  in  the  faces  of  these  inhabi- 
tants of  the  forest.  In  their  vicinity  were  a  few 
small  gardens,  containing  water-melons  and  a  little 
corn.  Occasionally  they  have  the  luck  to  capture 
some  large  animal  in  a  pitfall,  when  for  a  season 
they  live  in  plenty.  But  as  they  do  not  possess 
salt,  the  flesh  soon  spoils,  when  they  are  compelled 
once  more  to  roam  the  forest  in  quest  of  fruits 
and  roots,  on  which,  along  with  locusts,  they  in  a 
great  measure  subsist. 

In  districts  where  game  is  abundant,  they  often 
construct  their  pits  on  a  large  scale,  and  erect 
hedges  in  the  form  of  a  crescent,  extending  to 
nearly  a  mile  on  either  side  of  the  pit.  By  this 
means  the  game  may  easily  be  driven  into  the  pit- 
falls, which  are  carefully  covered  over  with  thin 
sticks  and  dry  grass,  and  thus  whole  herds  of 
zebras  and  wildebeests  are  massacred  at  once, 
which  capture  is  followed  by  the  most  disgusting 
banquets,  the  poor  starving  savages  gorging  and 
surfeiting  in  a  manner  worthy  only  of  the  vulture 
or  hyaena.  They  possess  no  cattle,  and  if  they 
did,  the  nearest  chief  would  immediately  rob  them. 
All  that  part  of  the  country  abounded  with  the 
pitfalls  made  by  these  and  others  of  the  Bakala- 
hari.  Man}'  of  these  had  been  dug  expressly  for 


104  THE  LION  HUNTER 

the  giraffe,  and  were  generally  three  feet  wide  and 
ten  long;  their  depth  was  from  nine  to  ten  feet. 
They  were  placed  in  the  path  of  the  camelopard, 
and  in  the  vicinity  of  several  of  these  we  detected 
the  bones  of  giraffes,  indicating  the  success  that 
had  attended  their  formation. 

At  mid-day  we  resumed  our  march,  halting  at 
sunset  without  water.  The  first  part  of  this 
march  lay  through  dense  forest,  where  we  were 
obliged  to  cut  a  pathway  with  our  axes.  Here 
the  spoor  of  eland  was  abundant.  In  the  evening 
we  passed  through  an  open  tract  very  thinly 
wooded,  where  I  saw  abundance  of  springbok  and 
blue  wildebeest.  At  midnight,  the  dogs  giving 
chase  to  some  animal,  I  sprang  out  of  bed,  and,  fol- 
lowing them  in  my  shirt,  found  them  standing  over 
a  jackal.  The  guides  skinned  him,  and,  having 
baked  him  in  the  ashes,  they  consumed  him. 

On  the  22d,  ordering  my  men  to  move  on  toward 
a  fountain  in  the  center  of  the  plain,  I  rode  forth 
with  Ruyter,  and  held  east  through  a  grove  of 
lofty  and  wide-spreading  mimosas,  most  of  which 
were  more  or  less  damaged  by  the  gigantic  strength 
of  a  troop  of  elephants,  which  had  passed  there 
about  twelve  months  before.  Having  proceeded 
about  two  miles  with  large  herds  of  game  on  every 
side,  I  observed  a  crusty-looking  old  bull  borele,  or 
black  rhinoceros,  cocking  his  ears,  one  hundred 


GIRAFFES  —  RHINOCEROS          105 

yards  in  advance.  He  had  not  observed  us;  and 
soon  after  he  walked  slowly  toward  us,  and  stood 
broadside  to,  eating  some  wait-a-bit  thorns  within 
fifty  yards  of  me.  I  fired  from  my  saddle,  and 
sent  a  bullet  in  behind  his  shoulder,  upon  which 
he  rushed  forward  about  one  hundred  yards  in 
tremendous  consternation,  blowing  like  a  grampus, 
and  then  stood  looking  about  him.  Presently  he 
made  off.  I  followed,  but  found  it  hard  to  come 
up  with  him.  When  I  overtook  him  I  saw  the 
blood  running  freely  from  his  wound. 

The  chase  led  through  a  large  herd  of  blue  wilde- 
beests, zebras,  and  springboks,  which  gazed  at  us 
in  utter  amazement.  At  length  I  fired  my  second 
barrel,  but  my  horse  was  fidgety,  and  I  missed.  I 
continued  riding  alongside  of  him,  expecting  in  my 
ignorance  that  at  length  he  would  come  to  bay, 
which  rhinoceroses  never  do ;  when  suddenly  he  fell 
flat  on  his  broadside  on  the  ground,  but,  recovering 
his  feet,  resumed  his  course  as  if  nothing  had  hap- 
pened. Becoming  at  last  annoyed  at  the  length 
of  the  chase,  as  I  wished  to  keep  my  horses  fresh 
for  the  elephants,  and  being  indifferent  whether 
I  got  the  rhinoceros  or  not,  as  I  observed  that  his 
horn  was  completely  worn  down  with  age  and  the 
violence  of  his  disposition,  I  determined  to  bring 
matters  to  a  crisis ;  so,  spurring  my  horse,  I 
dashed  ahead,  and  rode  right  in  his  path.  Upon 


106  THE  LION  HUNTER 

this  the  hideous  monster  instantly  charged  me  in 
the  most  resolute  manner,  blowing  loudly  through 
his  nostrils ;  and  although  I  quickly  wheeled  about 
to  my  left,  he  followed  me  at  such  a  furious  pace 
for  several  hundred  yards,  with  his  horrid  horny 
snout  within  a  few  yards  of  my  horse's  tail,  that 
my  little  Bushman,  who  was  looking  on  in  great 
alarm,  thought  his  master's  destruction  inevitable. 

It  was  certainly  a  very  near  thing;  my  horse 
was  extremely  afraid,  and  exerted  his  utmost  ener- 
gies on  the  occasion.  The  rhinoceros,  however, 
wheeled  about,  and  continued  his  former  course; 
and  I,  being  perfectly  satisfied  with  the  interview 
which  I  had  already  enjoyed  with  him,  had  no  de- 
sire to  cultivate  his  acquaintance  any  further,  and 
accordingly  made  for  camp.  We  left  the  fountain 
of  Bootlonamy  the  same  day,  and  marched  about 
six  miles  through  an  old  gray  forest  of  mimosas, 
when  we  halted  for  the  night.  Large  flocks  of 
guinea-fowls  roosted  in  the  trees  around  our  en- 
campment, several  of  which  I  shot  for  my  supper. 

On  the  23d  we  inspanned  by  moonlight,  and 
continued  our  march  through  a  thinly-wooded, 
level  country.  It  was  a  lovely  morning;  the  sun 
rose  in  great  splendor,  and  the  sky  was  beautifully 
overcast  with  clouds.  Having  proceeded  about 
ten  miles,  the  country  became  thickly  covered  with 
detached  forest-trees  and  groves  of  wait-a-bit 


GIRAFFES  —  RHINOCEROS          107 

thorns.  The  guides  now  informed  us  that  the 
water,  which  is  called  by  the  Bechuanas  "  Lepe- 
by,"  was  only  a  short  distance  in  advance,  upon 
which  I  saddled  steeds,  and  rode  ahead  with  the 
Bushman,  intending  to  hunt  for  an  hour  before 
breakfast. 

Presently  we  reached  an  open  glade  in  the  for- 
est, where  I  observed  a  herd  of  zebras  in  advance ; 
and  on  my  left  stood  a  troop  of  springboks,  with 
two  leopards  watching  them  from  behind  a  bush. 
I  rode  on,  and  soon  fell  in  with  a  troop  of  harte- 
beests,  and,  a  little  after,  with  a  large  herd  of  blue 
wildebeests  and  pallahs.  I  followed  these  for 
some  distance,  when  they  were  re-enforced  by  two 
other  herds  of  pallahs  and  wildebeests.  Three 
black  rhinoceroses  now  trotted  across  my  path. 
Presently  I  sprang  from  my  horse,  and  fired  right 
and  left  at  a  princely  bull  blue  wildebeest.  He 
got  both  balls,  but  did  not  fall ;  and  I  immediately 
lost  sight  of  him  in  the  dense  ranks  of  his  shaggy 
companions.  The  game  increased  as  we  pro- 
ceeded, until  the  whole  forest  seemed  alive  with  a 
variety  of  beautifully-colored  animals.  On  this 
occasion  I  was  very  unfortunate;  I  might  have 
killed  any  quantity  of  game  if  venison  had  been 
my  object;  but  I  was  trying  to  get  a  few  very 
superior  heads  of  some  of  the  master  bucks  of 
the  pallahs.  Of  these  I  wounded  four  select  old 


108  THE  LION  HUNTER 

bucks,  but  in  the  dust  and  confusion  caused  by 
the  innumerable  quantity  of  the  game  I  managed 
to  lose  them  all. 

We  had  now  ridden  many  miles  from  the  wagons ; 
and  feeling  faint  from  want  of  food,  I  dropped 
the  chase  in  disgust,  and,  without  looking  at 
my  compass,  ordered  the  Bushman  to  go  ahead. 
My  attention  had  been  so  engrossed  with  the  ex- 
citement of  the  pursuit,  that  I  had  not  the  re- 
motest idea  of  the  course  I  had  taken,  and  the 
whole  country  exhibited  such  an  aspect  of  same- 
ness, that  there  was  no  landmark  nor  eminence 
of  any  description  by  which  to  steer. 

Having  ridden  many  miles  through  the  forest, 
I  at  length  asked  the  Bushman,  in  whom  on  such 
occasions  I  generally  placed  great  confidence,  if 
he  was  sure  he  was  riding  in  the  right  direction, 
and,  as  he  appeared  quite  confident,  I  allowed  him 
to  proceed.  At  length  he  said  that  we  had  gone  a 
little  too  far  to  the  left,  and  led  me  away  several 
miles  to  the  right,  which  was  westerly ;  whereas 
the  wagons  eventually  proved  to  be  a  long  way  to 
the  east.  I  felt  convinced  that  we  were  wrong, 
and,  reining  up,  a  discussion  arose  between  us,  the 
Bushman  still  maintaining  that  we  must  ride  west, 
while  I  was  certain  that  our  course  should  be 
east. 

I  now  adopted  my  own  opinion,  and,  having  rid- 


GIRAFFES  —  RHINOCEROS          109 

den  many  miles  in  an  easterly  direction,  we  were 
at  one  time  close  upon  the  wagons,  when  the  thick- 
headed Bushman  declared  that  if  I  persevered  we 
should  never  see  the  wagons  again,  and  I  with 
equal  stupidity  yielded  to  his  advice,  and  a  south- 
westerly course  was  once  more  adopted.  Having 
ridden  for  many  miles,  I  again  reined  up,  and  again 
told  the  Bushman  we  were  wrong;  upon  which  he 
for  the  first  time  acknowledged  that  he  knew  noth- 
ing at  all  about  the  matter,  but  stated  it  to  be 
his  impression  that  we  ought  to  ride  further  to  the 
west.  My  head  was  so  confused  that  I  lost  all 
recollection  of  how  we  had  ridden;  and  while  I 
was  deliberating  what  I  should  do,  I  observed  a 
colume  of  smoke  a  long  way  to  the  north,  which  I 
at  once  imagined  had  been  kindled  by  my  followers 
to  guide  their  lost  master  to  the  wagons. 

With  revived  spirits,  I  stirred  my  jaded  steed 
and  made  for  the  smoke ;  but,  alas  !  this  only  served 
to  lead  me  further  astray.  After  riding  many 
miles  in  that  direction,  I  discovered  that  the  fire 
was  at  an  amazing  distance,  and  could  not  have 
been  kindled  by  my  men ;  it  was  the  wild  Bakala- 
hari  of  the  desert  burning  the  old  dry  grass.  I 
was  now  like  a  seaman  in  a  hurricane  —  at  my 
wit's  end  —  I  knew  not  how  to  ride  nor  what  to  do. 
The  sun,  which  had  just  risen  when  I  left  the 
wagons,  was  about  to  set.  There  was  no  land- 


110  THE  LION  HUNTER 

mark  whatever  by  which  to  steer ;  I  might  wander 
for  days,  and  not  discover  water. 

To  find  the  wagons  was  comparatively  a  trifle. 
I  thought  little  of  them;  it  was  the  thought  of 
water  that  harrowed  my  mind.  Already  the 
pangs  of  thirst  began  to  seize  me.  I  had  ridden 
all  day,  under  the  hot  sun,  and  had  neither  eaten 
nor  drunk  since  early  the  preceding  evening.  I 
felt  faint  and  weary,  and  my  heart  sank  as  horrible 
visions  of  a  lingering  death  by  maddening  thirst 
arose  before  me.  Dismounting  from  my  horse,  I 
sat  down  to  think  what  I  should  do.  I  knew  ex- 
actly by  my  compass  the  course  we  had  been  steer- 
ing since  we  left  Booby.  I  accordingly  resolved 
to  ride  southwest  for  many  miles,  the  course  of  the 
wagons  having  been  northeast,  and  then  to  send 
Ruyter  across  the  country  a  little  to  the  north  of 
west,  while  I  should  hold  a  corresponding  course 
in  an  easterly  direction.  By  this  means  one  of  us 
could  not  fail  to  find  the  spoor,  and  I  arranged  that 
at  nightfall  we  should  meet  at  some  conspicuous 
tree. 

Having  thus  resolved,  I  mounted  my  horse, 
which  was  half  dead  with  thirst  and  fatigue,  and, 
having  ridden  southwest  for  several  miles,  I  and 
Ruyter  separated  at  a  conspicuous  tree,  and  rode 
in  opposite  directions.  Before  riding  far  I  recog- 
nized the  country  as  being  the  spot  where  I  had 


GIRAFFES  —  RHINOCEROS          111 

seen  the  leopards  in  the  morning.  I  at  once  fol- 
lowed Ruyter,  and  fired  several  signal  shots,  which 
he  fortunately  heard,  and  soon  joined  me.  We 
then  rode  due  east,  and  eventually,  to  my  inexpres- 
sible gratification,  we  discovered  the  spoor  of  the 
wagons,  which  we  reached  after  following  it  for 
about  four  miles  in  a  northeasterly  direction. 

Our  poor  horses  were  completely  exhausted, 
and  could  barely  walk  to  the  camp.  I  found  my 
wagons  drawn  up  beside  the  strong  fountain  of 
Lepeby,  which,  issuing  from  beneath  a  stratum  of 
white  tufous  rock,  formed  an  extensive  deep  pool 
of  pure  water,  adorned  on  one  side  with  lofty  green 
reeds.  This  fountain  was  situated  at  the  north" 
ern  extremity  of  a  level  bare  vley,  surrounded  by 
dense  covers  of  the  wait-a-bit  thorns.  Such  a  pe- 
culiar sameness  characterized  the  country,  that  a 
person  wandering  only  a  few  hundred  yards  from 
the  fountain  would  have  considerable  difficulty  in 
regaining  it.  It  was  night  when  I  reached  the 
wagons,  and  two  or  three  cups  of  coffee  soon  re- 
stored me  to  my  wonted  vigor. 

On  the  following  morning,  from  earliest  dawn 
until  we  trekked,  which  we  did  about  10  A.  M.,  large 
herds  of  game  kept  pouring  in  to  drink  from  every 
side,  completely  covering  the  open  space,  and  im- 
parting to  it  the  appearance  of  a  cattle-fair ;  blue 
wildebeests,  zebras,  sassaybies,  pallahs,  springboks, 


112  THE  LION  HUNTER 

&c.,  capered  fearlessly  up  to  the  water,  troop  after 
troop,  within  two  hundred  yards  of  us.  In  former 
jears  a  tribe  of  Bechuanas  had  frequented  this 
fountain,  and  I  beheld  the  skeletons  of  many  rhi- 
noceroses and  of  one  elephant  bleaching  in  the 
sun;  but  the  powerful  and  cruel  Matabili  had  at- 
tacked the  tribe,  and  driven  them  to  seek  a  home 
elsewhere.  I  shot  a  pallah  and  a  wildebeest, 
which  we  secured  behind  the  wagons.  About  10 
A.  M.,  we  inspanned,  and  within  a  mile  of  Lepeby 
we  passed  through  another  similar  open  vley,  con- 
taining a  strong  fountain  of  delicious  water.  We 
continued  our  march  till  sundown  through  an  un- 
dulating open  country,  thinly  covered  with  de- 
tached trees  and  thorny  bushes,  and  encamped  in 
a  sandy  desert  without  water. 


CHAPTER  IV 

GIRAFFES ELEPHANTS 

N  the  £5th,  at  dawn  of  day,  we  inspanned, 
and  trekked  about  five  hours  in  a  north- 
easterly course,  through  a  boundless 
open  country  sparingly  adorned  with  dwarfish  old 
trees.  In  the  distance  the  long-sought  mountains 
of  Bamangwato  at  length  loomed  blue  before  me. 
We  halted  beside  a  glorious  fountain,  which  at 
once  made  me  forget  all  the  cares  and  difficulties 
I  had  encountered  in  reaching  it.  The  name  of 
this  fountain  was  Massouey,  but  I  at  once  chris- 
tened it  "  the  Elephant's  own  Fountain."  This 
was  a  very  remarkable  spot  on  the  southern  bor- 
ders of  endless  elephant  forests,  at  which  I  had 
at  length  arrived.  The  fountain  was  deep  and 
strong,  situated  in  a  hollow  at  the  eastern  extrem- 
ity of  an  extensive  vley,  and  its  margin  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  level  stratum  of  solid  old  red  sand- 
stone. Here  and  there  lay  a  thick  layer  of  soil 
upon  the  rock,  and  this  was  packed  flat  with  the 

fresh    spoor    of   elephants.     Around    the   water's 
113 


114.  THE  LION  HUNTER 

edge  the  very  rock  was  worn  down  by  the  gigantic 
feet  which  for  ages  had  trodden  there. 

The  soil  of  the  surrounding  country  was  white 
and  yellow  sand,  but  grass,  trees,  and  bushes  were 
abundant.  From  the  borders  of  the  fountain  a 
hundred  well-trodden  elephant  foot-paths  led  away 
in  every  direction,  like  the  radii  of  a  circle.  The 
breadth  of  these  paths  was  about  three  feet ;  those 
leading  to  the  northward  and  east  were  the  most 
frequented,  the  country  in  those  directions  being 
well  wooded.  We  drew  up  the  wagons  on  a  hillock 
on  the  eastern  side  of  the  water.  This  position 
commanded  a  good  view  of  any  game  that  might 
approach  to  drink. 

I  had  just  cooked  my  breakfast,  and  com- 
menced to  feed,  when  I  heard  my  men  exclaim, 
"  Almagtig  keek  de  ghroote  clomp  cameel ; "  and, 
raising  my  eyes  from  my  sassayby  stew,  I  beheld 
a  truly  beautiful  and  very  unusual  scene.  From 
the  margin  of  the  fountain  there  extended  an  open 
level  vley,  without  a  tree  or  bush,  that  stretched 
away  about  a  mile  to  the  northward,  where  it  was 
bounded  by  extensive  groves  of  wide-spreading  mi- 
mosas. Up  the  middle  of  this  vley  stalked  a  troop 
of  ten  colossal  giraffes,  flanked  by  two  large  herds 
of  blue  wildebeests  and  zebras,  with  an  advanced 
guard  of  pallahs.  They  were  all  coming  to  the 
fountain  to  drink,  and  would  be  within  rifle-shot  of 


GIRAFFES  —  ELEPHANTS          115 

the  wagons  before  I  could  finish  my  breakfast.  I, 
however,  continued  to  swallow  my  food  with  the 
utmost  expedition,  having  directed  my  men  to 
catch  and  saddle  Colesberg.  In  a  few  minutes  the 
giraffes  were  slowly  advancing  within  two  hundred 
yards,  stretching  their  graceful  necks,  and  gazing 
in  wonder  at  the  unwonted  wagons. 

Grasping  my  rifle,  I  now  mounted  Colesberg, 
and  rode  slowly  toward  them.  They  continued 
gazing  at  the  wagons  until  I  was  within  one  hun- 
dred yards  of  them,  when,  whisking  their  long 
tails  over  their  rumps,  they  made  off  at  an  easy 
canter.  As  I  pressed  upon  them  they  increased 
their  pace;  but  Colesberg  had  much  the  speed  of 
them,  and  before  we  had  proceeded  half  a  mile  I 
was  riding  by  the  shoulder  of  the  dark-chestnut 
old  bull,  whose  head  towered  high  above  the  rest. 
Letting  fly  at  the  gallop,  I  wounded  him  behind 
the  shoulder;  soon  after  which  I  broke  him  from 
the  herd,  and  presently,  going  ahead  of  him,  he 
came  to  a  stand.  I  then  gave  him  a  second  bullet, 
somewhere  near  the  first. .  These  two  shots  had 
taken  effect,  and  he  was  now  in  my  power,  but  I 
would  not  lay  him  low  so  far  from  camp ;  so,  hav- 
ing waited  until  he  had  regained  his  breath,  I  drove 
him  half  way  back  toward  the  wagons.  Here  he 
became  obstreperous;  so,  loading  one  barrel,  and 
pointing  my  rifle  toward  the  clouds,  I  shot  him  in 


116  THE  LION  HUNTER 

the  throat,  when,  rearing  high,  he  fell  backward 
and  expired.  This  was  a  magnificent  specimen  of 
the  giraffe,  measuring  upward  of  eighteen  feet  in 
height.  I  stood  for  nearly  half  an  hour  engrossed 
in  the  contemplation  of  his  extreme  beauty  and 
gigantic  proportions;  and,  if  there  had  been  no 
elephants,  I  could  have  exclaimed,  like  Duke  Alex- 
ander of  Gordon  when  he  killed  the  famous  old 
stag  with  seventeen  tine,  "  Now  I  can  die  happy." 
But  I  longed  for  an  encounter  with  the  noble 
elephants,  and  I  thought  little  more  of  the  giraffe 
than  if  I  had  killed  a  gemsbok  or  an  eland. 

In  the  afternoon  I  removed  my  wagons  to  a 
correct  distance  from  the  fountain,  and  drew 
them  up  among  some  bushes  about  four  hundred 
yards  to  leeward  of  the  water.  In  the  evening 
I  was  employed  in  manufacturing  hardened  bullets 
for  the  elephants,  using  a  composition  of  one  of 
pewter  to  four  of  lead ;  and  I  had  just  completed 
my  work,  when  we  heard  a  troop  of  elephants 
splashing  and  trumpeting  in  the  water.  This  was 
to  me  a  joyful  sound;  I  slept  little  that  night. 

On  the  26th  I  arose  at  earliest  dawn,  and,  hav- 
ing fed  four  of  my  horses,  proceeded  with  Isaac 
to  the  fountain  to  examine  the  spoor  of  the  ele- 
phants which  had  drunk  there  during  the  night. 
A  number  of  the  paths  contained  fresh  spoor  of 
elephants  of  all  sizes,  which  had  gone  from  the 


GIRAFFES  —  ELEPHANTS          117 

fountain  in  different  directions.  We  reckoned 
that  at  least  thirty  of  these  gigantic  quadrupeds 
had  visited  the  water  during  the  night. 

We  hastily  returned  to  camp,  where,  having 
breakfasted,  I  saddled  up,  and  proceeded  to  take 
up  the  spoor  of  the  largest  bull  elephant,  accom- 
panied by  after-riders  and  three  of  the  guides  to 
assist  in  spooring.  I  was  also  accompanied  by 
my  dogs.  Having  selected  the  spoor  of  a  mighty 
bull,  the  Bechuanas  went  ahead,  and  I  followed 
them.  It  was  extremely  interesting  and  exciting 
work.  The  foot-print  of  this  elephant  was  about 
two  feet  in  diameter,  and  was  beautifully  visible 
in  the  soft  sand.  The  spoor  at  first  led  us  for 
about  three  miles  in  an  easterly  direction,  along 
one  of  the  sandy  foot-paths,  without  check.  We 
then  entered  a  very  thick  forest,  and  the  elephant 
had  gone  a  little  out  of  the  path  to  smash  some 
trees,  and  to  plow  up  the  earth  with  his  tusks.  He 
soon,  however,  again  took  the  path,  and  held  along 
it  for  several  miles. 

We  were  on  rather  elevated  ground,  with  a  fine 
view  of  a  part  of  the  Bamangwato  chain  of  moun- 
tains before  us.  Here  the  trees  were  large  and 
handsome,  but  not  strong  enough  to  resist  the  in- 
conceivable strength  of  the  mighty  monarchs  of 
these  forests.  Almost  every  tree  had  half  its 
branches  broken  short  by  them,  and  at  every 


118  THE  LION  HUNTER 

hundred  yards  I  came  upon  entire  trees,  and  these 
the  largest  in  the  forest,  uprooted  clean  out  of  the 
ground,  or  broken  short  across  their  stems.  I  ob- 
served several  large  trees  placed  in  an  inverted 
position,  having  their  roots  uppermost  in  the  air. 
Our  friend  had  here  halted,  and  fed  for  a  long  time 
upon  a  large,  wide-spreading  tree,  which  he  had 
broken  short  across  within  a  few  feet  of  the  ground. 
After  following  the  spoor  some  distance  further 
through  the  dense  mazes  of  the  forest,  we  got 
into  ground  so  thickly  trodden  by  elephants  that 
we  were  baffled  in  our  endeavors  to  trace  the  spoor 
any  further;  and  after  wasting  several  hours  in 
attempting  by  casts  to  take  up  the  proper  spoor, 
we  gave  it  up,  and  with  a  sorrowful  heart  I  turned 
my  horse's  head  toward  camp. 

Having  reached  the  wagons,  while  drinking  my 
coffee  I  reviewed  the  whole  day's  work,  and  felt 
much  regret  at  my  want  of  luck  in  my  first  day's 
elephant  hunting,  and  I  resolved  that  night  to 
watch  the  water,  and  try  what  could  be  done  with 
elephants  by  night  shooting.  I  accordingly 
ordered  the  usual  watching-hole  to  be  constructed, 
and,  having  placed  my  bedding  in  it,  repaired 
thither  shortly  after  sundown.  I  had  lain  about 
two  hours  in  the  hole,  when  I  heard  a  low  rumbling 
noise  like  distant  thunder,  caused  (as  the  Bechua- 
nas  affirmed)  by  the  bowels  of  the  elephants  which 


GIRAFFES  —  ELEPHANTS          119 

were  approaching  the  fountain.  I  lay  on  my 
back,  with  my  mouth  open,  attentively  listening, 
and  could  hear  them  plowing  up  the  earth  with 
their  tusks. 

Presently  they  walked  up  to  the  water,  and 
commenced  drinking  within  fifty  yards  of  me. 
They  approached  with  so  quiet  a  step  that  I 
fancied  it  was  the  footsteps  of  jackals  which  I 
heard,  and  I  was  not  aware  of  their  presence 
until  I  heard  the  water,  which  they  had  drawn 
up  in  their  trunks  and  were  pouring  into  their 
mouths,  dropping  into  the  fountain.  I  then 
peeped  from  my  sconce  with  a  beating  heart, 
and  beheld  two  enormous  bull  elephants,  which 
looked  like  two  great  castles,  standing  before  me. 
I  could  not  see  very  distinctly,  for  there  was  only 
starlight.  Having  lain  on  my  breast  some  time 
taking  my  aim,  I  let  fly  at  one  of  the  elephants, 
using  the  Dutch  rifle  carrying  six  to  the  pound. 
The  ball  told  loudly  on  his  shoulder,  and,  utter- 
ing a  loud  cry,  he  stumbled  through  the  fountain, 
when  both  made  off  in  different  directions. 

All  night  large  herds  of  zebras  and  blue  wilde- 
beests capered  around  me,  coming  sometimes  within 
a  few  yards.  Several  parties  of  rhinoceroses  also 
made  their  appearance.  I  felt  a  little  apprehen- 
sive that  lions  might  visit  the  fountain,  and  every 
time  that  hyaenas  or  jackals  lapped  the  water  I 


120  THE  LION  HUNTER 

looked  forth,  but  no  lions  appeared.  At  length  I 
fell  into  a  sound  sleep,  nor  did  I  again  raise  my 
head  until  the  bright  star  of  morn  had  shot  far 
above  the  eastern  horizon. 

Before  proceeding  further  with  my  narrative,  it 
may  here  be  interesting  to  make  a  few  remarks  on 
the  African  elephant  and  his  habits.  The  elephant 
is  widely  diffused  through  the  vast  forests,  and  is 
met  with  in  herds  of  various  numbers.  The  male 
is  very  much  larger  than  the  female,  consequently 
much  more  difficult  to  kill.  He  is  provided  with 
two  enormous  tusks.  These  are  long,  tapering, 
and  beautifully  arched ;  their  length  averages  from 
six  to  eight  feet,  and  they  weigh  from  sixty  to 
a  hundred  pounds  each. 

In  the  vicinity  of  the  equator  the  elephants  at- 
tain to  a  greater  size  than  to  the  southward;  and 
I  am  in  the  possession  of  a  pair  of  tusks  of  the 
African  bull  elephant,  the  larger  of  which  measures 
ten  feet  nine  inches  in  length,  and  weighs  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy-three  pounds.  The  females,  un- 
like Asiatic  elephants  in  this  respect,  are  like- 
wise provided  with  tusks.  The  price  which  the 
largest  ivory  fetches  in  the  English  market  is  from 
£28  to  £32  per  hundred  and  twelve  pounds. 

Old  bull  elephants  are  found  singly  or  in  pairs, 
or  consorting  together  in  small  herds,  varying  from 
six  to  twenty  individuals.  The  younger  bulls  re- 


GIRAFFES  —  ELEPHANTS          121 

main  for  many  years  in  the  company  of  their 
mothers,  and  these  are  met  together  in  large  herds 
of  from  twenty  to  a  hundred  individuals.  The 
food  of  the  elephant  consists  of  the  branches, 
leaves,  and  roots  of  trees,  and  also  of  a  variety  of 
bulbs,  of  the  situation  of  which  he  is  advised  by 
his  exquisite  sense  of  smell.  To  obtain  these  he 
turns  up  the  ground  with  his  tusks,  and  whole 
acres  may  be  seen  thus  plowed  up. 

Elephants  consume  an  immense  quantity  of  food, 
and  pass  the  greater  part  of  the  day  and  night  in 
feeding.  Like  the  whale  in  the  ocean,  the  ele- 
phant on  land  is  acquainted  with,  and  roams  over, 
wide  and  extensive  tracts.  He  is  extremely  par- 
ticular in  always  frequenting  the  freshest  and 
most  verdant  districts  of  the  forest;  and  when 
one  district  is  parched  and  barren,  he  will  for- 
sake it  for  years,  and  wander  to  great  distances 
in  quest  of  better  pasture. 

The  elephant  entertains  an  extraordinary  horror 
of  man,  and  a  child  can  put  a  hundred  of  them  to 
flight  by  passing  at  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  wind- 
ward; and  when  thus  disturbed,  they  go  a  long 
way  before  they  halt.  It  is  surprising  how  soon 
these  sagacious  animals  are  aware  of  the  presence 
of  a  hunter  in  their  domains.  When  one  troop  has 
been  attacked,  all  the  other  elephants  frequenting 
the  district  are  aware  of  the  fact  within  two  or 


122  THE  LION  HUNTER 

three  days,  when  they  all  forsake  it,  and  migrate 
to  distant  parts,  leaving  the  hunter  no  alterna- 
tive but  to  inspan  his  wagons,  and  remove  to  fresh 
ground.  This  constitutes  one  of  the  greatest 
difficulties  which  a  skillful  elephant-hunter  en- 
counters. Even  in  the  most  remote  parts,  which 
may  be  reckoned  the  head-quarters  of  the  elephant, 
it  is  only  occasionally,  and  with  inconceivable  toil 
and  hardship,  that  the  eye  of  the  hunter  is  cheered 
by  the  sight  of  one. 

Owing  to  habits  peculiar  to  himself,  the  ele- 
phant is  more  inaccessible,  and  much  more  rarely 
seen,  than  any  other  game  quadruped,  excepting 
certain  rare  antelopes.  They  choose  for  their 
resort  the  most  lonely  and  secluded  depths  of  the 
forest,  generally  at  a  very  great  distance  from 
the  rivers  and  fountains  at  which  they  drink.  In 
dry  and  warm  weather  they  visit  these  waters 
nightly,  but  in  cool  and  cloudy  wreather  they 
drink  only  once  every  third  or  fourth  day.  About 
sundown  the  elephant  leaves  his  distant  mid-day 
haunt,  and  commences  his  march  toward  the  foun- 
tain, which  is  probably  from  twelve  to  twenty 
miles  distant.  This  he  generally  reaches  between 
the  hours  of  nine  and  midnight,  when,  having  slaked 
his  thirst  and  cooled  his  body  by  spouting  large 
volumes  of  water  over  his  back  with  his  trunk,  he 
resumes  the  path  to  his  forest  solitudes. 


GIRAFFES  —  ELEPHANTS 

Having  reached  a  secluded  spot,  I  have  re- 
marked that  full-grown  bulls  lie  down  on  their 
broadsides,  about  the  hour  of  midnight,  and  sleep 
for  a  few  hours.  The  spot  which  they  usually 
select  is  an  ant-hill,  and  they  lie  around  it  with 
their  backs  resting  against  it;  these  hills,  formed 
by  the  white  ants,  are  from  thirty  to  forty  feet 
in  diameter  at  their  base.  The  mark  of  the  under 
tusk  is  always  deeply  imprinted  in  the  ground, 
proving  that  they  lie  upon  their  sides.  I  never 
remarked  the  females  had  thus  lain  down,  and 
it  is  only  in  the  more  secluded  districts  that  the 
bulls  adopt  this  practice;  for  I  observed  that,  in 
districts  where  the  elephants  were  liable  to  frequent 
disturbance,  they  took  repose  standing  on  their  legs 
beneath  some  shady  tree.  Having  slept,  they  then 
proceed  to  feed  extensively.  Spreading  out  from 
one  another,  and  proceeding  in  a  zigzag  course, 
they  smash  and  destroy  all  the  finest  trees  in  the 
forest  which  happen  to  lie  in  their  course. 

The  number  of  goodly  trees  which  a  herd  of  bull 
elephants  will  thus  destroy  is  utterly  incredible. 
They  are  extremely  capricious,  and  on  coming  to  a 
group  of  five  or  six  trees,  they  break  down  not  un- 
frequently  the  whole  of  them,  when,  having  per- 
haps only  tasted  one  or  two  small  branches,  they 
pass  on  and  continue  their  wanton  work  of  de- 
struction. I  have  repeatedly  ridden  through  for- 


THE  LION  HUNTER 

ests  where  the  trees  thus  broken  lay  so  thick  across 
one  another  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  ride 
through  the  district,  and  it  is  in  situations  such 
as  these  that  attacking  the  elephant  is  attended 
with  most  danger.  During  the  night  they  will 
feed  in  open  plains  and  thinly-wooded  districts, 
but  as  day  dawns  they  retire  to  the  densest  covers 
within  reach,  which  nine  times  in  ten  are  composed 
of  the  impracticable  wait-a-bit  thorns,  and  here 
they  remain  drawn  up  in  a  compact  herd  during 
the  heat  of  the  day.  In  remote  districts,  how- 
ever, and  in  cool  weather,  I  have  known  herds 
to  continue  pasturing  throughout  the  whole 
day. 

The  appearance  of  the  wild  elephant  is  incon- 
ceivably majestic  and  imposing.  His  gigantic 
height  and  colossal  bulk,  so  greatly  surpassing  all 
other  quadrupeds,  combined  with  his  sagacious  dis- 
position and  peculiar  habits,  impart  to  him  an  in- 
terest in  the  eyes  of  the  hunter  which  no  other 
animal  can  call  forth.  The  pace  of  the  elephant, 
when  undisturbed,  is  a  bold,  free  sweeping  step ; 
and  from  the  peculiar  spongy  formation  of  his 
foot,  his  tread  is  extremely  light  and  inaudible, 
and  all  his  movements  are  attended  with  a  peculiar 
gentleness  and  grace.  This,  however,  only  applies 
to  the  elephant  when  roaming  undisturbed  in  his 
jungle;  for,  when  roused  by  the  hunter,  he  proves 


GIRAFFES  —  ELEPHANTS          125 

the  most  dangerous  enemy,  and  far  more  difficult  to 
conquer  than  any  other  beast  of  the  chase. 

On  the  27th1,  as  the  day  dawned,  I  left  my  shoot- 
ing-hole, and  proceeded  to  inspect  the  spoor  of  my 
wounded  elephant.  After  following  it  for  some 
distance  I  came  to  an  abrupt  hillock,  and  fancying 
that  from  the  summit  a  good  view  might  be  ob- 
tained of  the  surrounding  country,  I  left  my  fol- 
lowers to  seek  the  spoor  while  I  ascended.  I  did 
not  raise  my  eyes  from  the  ground  until  I  had 
reached  the  highest  pinnacle  of  rock.  I  then 
looked  east,  and,  to  my  inexpressible  gratification, 
beheld  a  troop  of  nine  or  ten  elephants  quietly 
browsing  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  me.  I 
allowed  myself  only  one  glance  at  them,  and  then 
rushed  down  to  warn  my  followers  to  be  silent. 

A  council  of  war  was  hastily  held,  the  result 
of  which  was  my  ordering  Isaac  to  ride  hard  to 
camp,  with  instructions  to  return  as  quickly  as 
possible,  accompanied  by  Kleinboy,  and  to  bring 
me  my  dogs,  the  large  Dutch  rifle,  and  a  fresh 
horse.  I  once  more  ascended  the  hillock  to  feast 
my  eyes  upon  the  enchanting  sight  before  me,  and, 
drawing  out  my  spy-glass,  narrowly  watched  the 
motions  of  the  elephants.  The  herd  consisted  en- 
tirely of  females,  several  of  which  were  followed  by 
small  calves. 

Presently,   on   reconnoitering   the   surrounding 


126  THE  LION  HUNTER 

country,  I  discovered  a  second  herd,  consisting  of 
five  bull  elephants,  which  were  quietly  feeding 
about  a  mile  to  the  northward.  The  cows  were 
feeding  toward  a  rocky  ridge  that  stretched  away 
from  the  base  of  the  hillock  on  which  I  stood. 
Burning  with  impatience  to  commence  the  attack, 
I  resolved  to  try  the  stalking  system  with  these, 
and  to  hunt  the  troop  of  bulls  with  dogs  and 
horses.  Having  thus  decided,  I  directed  the 
guides  to  watch  the  elephants  from  the  summit  of 
the  hillock,  and  with  beating  heart  I  approached 
them.  The  ground  and  wind  favoring  me,  I  soon 
gained  the  rocky  ridge  toward  which  they  were 
feeding.  They  were  now  within  one  hundred 
yards,  and  I  resolved  to  enjoy  the  pleasure  of 
watching  their  movements  for  a  little  before  I 
fired.  They  continued  to  feed  slowly  toward  me, 
breaking  the  branches  from  the  trees  with  their 
trunks,  and  eating  the  leaves  and  tender  shoots. 
I  soon  selected  the  finest  in  the  herd,  and  kept  my 
eye  on  her  in  particular.  At  length  two  of  the 
troop  had  walked  slowly  past  at  about  sixty  yards, 
and  the  one  which  I  had  selected  was  feeding  with 
two  others,  on  a  thorny  tree  before  me. 

My  hand  was  now  as  steady  as  the  rock  on 
which  it  rested;  so,  taking  a  deliberate  aim,  I  let 
fly  at  her  head  a  little  behind  the  eye.  She  got 
it  hard  and  sharp,  just  where  I  aimed,  but  it  did 


GIRAFFES  —  ELEPHANTS          127 

not  seem  to  affect  her  much.  Uttering  a  loud  cry, 
she  wheeled  about,  when  I  gave  her  the  second  ball 
close  behind  the  shoulder.  All  the  elephants  ut- 
tered a  strange  rumbling  noise,  and  made  off  in  a 
line  to  the  northward  at  a  brisk  ambling  pace, 
their  huge,  fan-like  ears  flapping  in  the  ratio  of 
their  speed.  I  did  not  wait  to  load,  but  ran  back 
to  the  hillock  to  obtain  a  view.  On  gaining  its 
summit,  the  guides  pointed  out  the  elephants ;  they 
were  standing  in  a  grove  of  shady  trees,  but  the 
wounded  one  was  some  distance  behind  with  an- 
other elephant,  doubtless  its  particular  friend,  who 
was  endeavoring  to  assist  it. 

These  elephants  had  probably  never  before  heard 
the  report  of  a  gun,  and,  having  neither  seen  nor 
smelt  me,  they  were  unaware  of  the  presence  of 
man,  and  did  not  seem  inclined  to  go  any  further. 
Presently  my  men  hove  in  sight,  bringing  the 
dogs ;  and  when  these  came  up,  I  waited  some  time 
before  commencing  the  attack,  that  the  dogs  and 
horses  might  recover  their  wind.  We  then  rode 
slowly  toward  the  elephants,  and  had  advanced 
within  two  hundred  yards  of  them  when,  the 
ground  being  open,  they  observed  us,  and  made  off 
in  an  easterly  direction ;  but  the  wounded  one  im- 
mediately dropped  astern,  and  the  next  moment 
was  surrounded  by  the  dogs,  which,  barking  an- 
grily, seemed  to  engross  her  attention. 


128  THE  LION  HUNTER 

Having  placed  myself  between  her  and  the  re- 
treating troop,  I  dismounted  to  fire  within  forty 
yards  of  her,  in  open  ground.  Colesberg  was  ex- 
tremely afraid  of  the  elephants,  and  gave  me  much 
trouble,  jerking  my  arm  when  I  tried  to  fire.  At 
length  I  let  fly ;  but,  on  endeavoring  to  regain  my 
saddle,  Colesberg  declined  to  allow  me  to  mount; 
and  when  I  tried  to  lead  him,  and  run  for  it,  he 
only  backed  toward  the  wounded  elephant.  At 
this  moment  I  heard  another  elephant  close  be- 
hind ;  and  on  looking  about,  I  beheld  the  "  friend," 
with  uplifted  trunk,  charging  down  upon  me  at 
top  speed,  shrilly  trumpeting,  and  following  an 
old  black  pointer  named  Schwart,  that  was  per- 
fectly deaf,  and  trotted  along  before  the  enraged 
elephant  quite  unaware  of  what  was  behind  him. 

I  felt  certain  that  she  would  have  either  me  or 
my  horse.  I,  however,  determined  not  to  relin- 
quish my  steed,  but  to  hold  on  by  the  bridle.  My 
men,  who  of  course  kept  at  a  safe  distance,  stood 
aghast  with  their  mouths  open,  and  for  a  few  sec- 
onds my  position  was  certainly  not  an  enviable  one. 
Fortunately,  however,  the  dogs  took  off  the  atten- 
tion of  the  elephants;  and  just  as  they  were  upon 
me,  I  managed  to  spring  into  the  saddle,  where 
I  was  safe.  As  I  turned  my  back  to  mount,  the 
elephants  were  so  very  near  that  I  really  expected 
to  feel  one  of  their  trunks  lay  hold  of  me.  I 


GIRAFFES  —  ELEPHANTS          129 

rode  up  to  Kleinboy  for  my  double-barreled  two- 
grooved  rifle:  he  and  Isaac  were  pale  and  almost 
speechless  with  fright.  Returning  to  the  charge, 
I  was  soon  once  more  alongside,  and,  firing  from 
the  saddle,  I  sent  another  brace  of  bullets  into  the 
wounded  elephant.  Colesberg  was  extremely  un- 
steady, and  destroyed  the  correctness  of  my  aim. 

The  friend  now  seemed  resolved  to  do  some  mis- 
chief, and  charged  me  furiously,  pursuing  me  to  a 
distance  of  several  hundred  yards.  I  therefore 
deemed  it  proper  to  give  her  a  gentle  hint  to  act 
less  officiously,  and,  accordingly,  having  loaded, 
I  approached  within  thirty  yards,  and  gave  it  her 
sharp,  right  and  left,  behind  the  shoulder,  upon 
which  she  at  once  made  off  with  drooping  trunk, 
evidently  with  a  mortal  wound.  I  never  recur  to 
this  my  first  day's  elephant  shooting  without  re- 
gretting my  folly  in  contenting  myself  with  secur- 
ing only  one  elephant. 

The  first  was  now  dying,  and  could  not  leave 
the  ground,  and  the  second  was  also  mortally 
wounded,  and  I  had  only  to  follow  and  finish  her; 
but  I  foolishly  allowed  her  to  escape,  while  I 
amused  myself  with  the  first,  which  kept  walking 
backward,  and  standing  by  every  tree  she  passed. 
Two  more  shots  finished  her:  on  receiving  them, 
she  tossed  her  trunk  up  and  down  two  or  three 
times,  and,  falling  on  her  broadside  against  a 


130  THE  LION  HUNTER 

thorny  tree,  which  yielded  like  grass  before  her 
enormous  weight,  she  uttered  a  deep  hoarse  cry 
and  expired. 

This  was  a  very  handsome  old  cow  elephant, 
and  was  decidedly  the  best  in  the  troop.  She  was 
in  excellent  condition,  and  carried  a  pair  of  long 
and  perfect  tusks.  I  was  in  high  spirits  at  my 
success,  and  felt  so  perfectly  satisfied  with  having 
killed  one,  that,  although  it  was  still  early  in  the 
day,  and  my  horses  were  fresh,  I  allowed  the  troop 
of  five  bulls  to  remain  unmolested,  foolishly  trust- 
ing to  fall  in  with  them  next  day.  How  little  did 
I  then  know  of  the  habits  of  elephants,  or  the 
rules  to  be  adapted  in  hunting  them,  or  deem  it 
probable  I  should  never  see  them  more! 

Having  knee-haltered  our  horses,  we  set  to  work 
with  our  knives  and  assagais  to  prepare  the  skull 
for  the  hatchet,  in  order  to  cut  out  the  tusks, 
nearly  half  the  length  of  which,  I  may  mention, 
is  imbedded  in  bone  sockets  in  the  fore  part  of 
the  skull.  To  cut  out  the  tusks  of  a  cow  elephant 
requires  barely  one-fifth  of  the  labor  requisite  to 
cut  out  those  of  a  bull;  and  when  the  sun  went 
down,  we  had  managed  by  our  combined  efforts  to 
cut  out  one  of  the  tusks  of  my  first  elephant,  with 
which  we  triumphantly  returned  to  camp,  having 
left  the  guides  in  charge  of  the  carcass,  where 
they  volunteered  to  take  up  their  quarters  for  the 


GIRAFFES  —  ELEPHANTS          131 

night.  On  reaching  my  wagons  I  found  Johannus 
and  Carollus  in  a  happy  state  of  indifference  to 
all  passing  events:  they  were  both  very  drunk, 
having  broken  into  my  wine-cask  and  spirit-case. 

On  the  28th  I  arose  at  an  early  hour,  and,  burn- 
ing with  anxiety  to  look  forth  once  more  from 
the  summit  of  the  hillock  which  the  day  before 
brought  me  such  luck,  I  made  a  hasty  breakfast, 
and  rode  thither  with  after-riders  and  my  dogs. 
But,  alas !  I  had  allowed  the  golden  opportunity  to 
slip.  This  day  I  sought  in  vain,  and  although  I 
often  again  ascended  to  the  summit  of  my  favorite 
hillock  on  that  and  on  the  succeeding  year,  my 
eyes  were  destined  never  again  to  hail  from  it  a 
troop  of  elephants.  .  .  . 

It  was  ever  to  me  a  source  of  great  pleasure  to 
reflect  that,  while  enriching  myself  in  following 
my  favorite  pursuit  of  elephant  hunting  I  was 
feeding  and  making  happy  the  starving  families 
of  hundreds  of  the  Bechuana  and  Bakalahari 
tribes,  who  invariably  followed  my  wagons,  and 
assisted  me  in  my  hunting,  in  numbers  varying 
from  fifty  to  two  hundred  at  a  time.  These  men 
were  often  accompanied  by  their  wives  and  fam- 
ilies, and  when  an  elephant,  hippopotamus,  or 
other  large  animal  was  slain,  all  hands  repaired 
to  the  spot,  when  every  inch  of  the  animal  was  re- 
duced to  biltongue,  viz.,  cut  into  long  narrow 


132  THE  LION  HUNTER 

strips,  and  hung  in  festoons  upon  poles,  and  dried 
in  the  sun:  even  the  entrails  were  not  left  for  the 
vultures  and  hyaenas,  and  the  very  bones  were 
chopped  to  pieces  with  their  hatchets  to  obtain 
the  marrow,  with  which  they  enriched  their  soup. 

[Gumming  now  advanced  into  the  territory  of 
the  Bamangwato,  whose  king,  Sicomy,  met  him  in 
the  ravine  of  Lesauau.  The  canny  Scot  traded 
with  Sicomy  at  the  rate  of  one  cheap  musket  for 
two  or  three  elephant  tusks,  a  gross  profit  of 
about  3,000  per  cent.  Charging  against  this,  how- 
ever, the  loss  of  horses  and  oxen,  and  other  ex- 
penses of  the  caravan,  it  is  doubtful  if  he  came 
out  even. 

Thereafter,  for  several  months,  he  continued 
hunting  elephants  in  the  great  forest  northward 
and  eastward  of  the  Bamangwato  Mountains, 
where  no  white  hunter  had  ever  preceded  him. — 
Ed.] 

At  an  early  hour  on  the  24th  of  July,  upon  the 
strength  of  the  report  brought  to  us  on  the  pre- 
ceding evening,  I  took  the  field  with  Isaac  ard 
Kleinboy  as  after-riders,  accompanied  by  Mutchu- 
isho  and  a  hundred  and  fifty  of  his  tribe.  We 
held  a  northeasterly  course,  and,  having  pro- 
ceeded about  five  miles  through  the  forest,  reached 
a  fountain,  where  I  observed  the  spoor  of  a  herd  of 
cow  elephants,  two  days  old.  Here  we  made  a 


GIRAFFES  —  ELEPHANTS          133 

short  halt,  and  snuff  was  briskly  circulated,  while 
the  leading  men  debated  on  the  course  we  were  to 
follow,  and  it  was  agreed  that  we  should  hold  for 
the  Bakalahari  kraal.  Having  continued  our 
course  for  several  miles,  we  rounded  the  northern 
extremity  of  a  range  of  rocky  mountains  which 
rose  abruptly  in  the  forest  and  stretched  away  to 
the  south  of  east  in  a  long-continued  chain.  Here 
we  were  met  by  men  whom  Mutchuisho  had  dis- 
patched before  daybreak,  who  said  that  the  Baka- 
lahari women  had  that  morning  seen  elephants. 

This  was  joyous  news.  My  hopes  were  high, 
and  I  at  once  felt  certain  that  the  hour  of  tri- 
umph was  at  hand.  But  disappointment  was  still 
in  store  for  me.  We  all  sat  down  on  the  grass, 
while  men  were  dispatched  to  bring  the  Bakala- 
hari, and  when  these  came  we  ascertained  that  it 
was  only  spoor  and  not  elephants  they  had  seen. 
We  held  on  for  an  inspection  of  it ;  and  here  I  was 
further  to  be  disappointed,  the  spoor  proving  to 
be  two  days  old. 

The  country  now  before  me  was  a  vast  level 
forest,  extending  to  the  north  and  east  for  about 
twenty  miles  without  a  break.  At  that  distance, 
however,  the  landscape  was  shut  in  by  blue  moun- 
tain ranges  of  considerable  height,  and  two  bold 
conical  mountains  standing  close  together  rose 
conspicuous  above  the  rest.  These  mountains  the 


THE  LION  HUNTER 

Bamangwato  men  informed  me  were  their  ancient 
habitation,  and  that  of  their  forefathers,  but  the 
cruel  Matabili  had  driven  them  from  thence  to  the 
rocky  mountains  which  they  now  occupy.  We 
continued  our  course  in  an  easterly  direction,  and 
twice  crossed  the  gravelly  bed  of  a  periodical 
river,  in  which  were  several  small  springs  of  ex- 
cellent water.  These  springs  had  been  exposed  by 
elephants,  which  had  cleared  away  the  gravel  with 
their  trunks.  Around  these  springs  the  spoor  of 
rhinoceros  was  abundant. 

After  proceeding  several  miles  through  a  dry 
and  barren  tract,  where  wait-a-bit  thorns  pre- 
vailed, we  entered  upon  more  interesting  ground. 
The  forest  was  adorned  with  very  picturesque  old 
trees  of  various  sorts  and  sizes,  which  stood  singly 
and  in  shady  groups,  while  the  main  body  of  the 
forest  consisted  of  a  variety  of  trees  of  other 
sorts,  averaging  the  height  of  a  giraffe.  The  ele- 
phants had  left  abundant  traces  of  their  presence, 
but  all  the  marks  were  old.  Fresh  spoor  of  gi- 
raffe was  imprinted  on  the  ground  on  every  side, 
and  we  presently  saw  a  large  herd  of  these,  stand- 
ing scattered  through  the  forest  to  our  left.  They 
were  glorious  fellows,  but  I  was  now  in  pursuit  of 
nobler  game :  the  natives  were  leading  me  to  some 
distant  fountain,  where  they  expected  we  should 
discover  spoor. 


GIRAFFES  —  ELEPHANTS          135 

On  we  sped  through  the  depths  of  the  forest,  our 
view  being  confined  to  about  fifty  yards  on  every 
side.  Presently  emerging  upon  a  small  open  glade, 
I  observed  a  herd  of  brindled  gnoos  and  two  or 
three  troops  of  pallahs ;  and  soon  after,  a  second 
herd  of  about  fifteen  camelopards  stood  browsing 
before  us,  and,  getting  our  wind,  dashed  away  to 
our  left.  We  had  proceeded  about  two  miles 
further,  and  it  was  now  within  two  hours  of  sun- 
set, when,  lo!  a  thorny  tree,  newly  smashed  by  an 
•elephant.  Some  of  the  natives  attentively  ex- 
amined the  leaves  of  the  broken  branches  to  ascer- 
tain exactly  when  he  had  been  there,  while  some 
for  the  same  purpose  overhauled  the  spoor.  It 
was  the  spoor  of  a  first-rate  bull :  he  had  fed  there 
that  morning  at  the  dawn  of  day. 

The  ground  was  hard  and  bad  for  spooring,  but 
the  natives  evinced  great  skill,  and,  following  it 
for  a  short  distance,  we  came  to  ground  where  a 
troop  of  bull  elephants  had  pastured  not  many 
hours  before.  Here  the  thorny  trees  on  every  side 
were  demolished  by  them,  and  huge  branches  and 
entire  trees  were  rent  and  uprooted,  and  lay  scat- 
tered across  our  path,  having  been  carried  several 
yards  in  the  trunks  of  the  elephants  before  they 
stood  to  eat  the  leaves:  the  ground  also  was  here 
and  there  plowed  up  by  their  tusks  in  quest  of 
roots ;  and  in  these  places  the  enormous  fresh  spoor 


136  THE  LION  HUNTER 

—  that  thrilling  sight  to  a  hunter's  eye  —  was 
beautifully  visible. 

All  this  was  extremely  interesting  and  gratify- 
ing, but  I  had  been  so  often  disappointed,  and  it 
was  now  so  very  near  sunset,  that  I  entertained  but 
faint  hopes  of  finding  them  that  evening.  Mutchu- 
isho  was  very  anxious  that  I  should  see  the  ele- 
phants ;  he  had  divested  himself  of  his  kaross,  and, 
carrying  one  of  the  muskets  which  Sicomy  had 
bought  from  me,  he  led  the  spooring  party,  con- 
sisting of  about  fifteen  cunning  old  hands.  The 
great  body  of  the  men  he  had  ordered  to  sit  down 
and  remain  quiet  until  the  attack  commenced. 

Having  followed  the  spoor  for  a  short  distance, 
old  Mutchuisho  became  extremely  excited,  and 
told  me  that  we  were  close  to  the  elephants.  A 
few  minutes  after  several  of  the  spoorers  affirmed 
that  they  had  heard  the  elephants  break  a  tree  in 
advance;  they  differed,  however,  about  the  direc- 
tion, some  saying  it  was  in  front,  and  others  that 
it  was  away  to  our  left.  Two  or  three  men  quickly 
ascended  the  tallest  trees  that  stood  near  us,  but 
they  could  not  see  the  elephants.  Mutchuisho 
then  extended  men  to  the  right  and  left,  while  we 
continued  on  the  spoor. 

In  a  few  minutes  one  of  those  who  had  gone 
off  to  our  left  came  running  breathless  to  say  that 
he  had  seen  the  mighty  game.  I  halted  for  a  min- 


GIRAFFES  —  ELEPHANTS          137 

lite,  and  instructed  Isaac,  who  carried  the  big 
Dutch  rifle,  to  act  independently  of  me,  while 
Kleinboy  was  to  assist  me  in  the  chase;  but,  as 
usual,  when  the  row  began,  my  followers  thought 
only  of  number  one.  I  bared  my  arms  to  the  shoul- 
der, and,  having  imbibed  a  draught  of  aqua  pura 
from  the  calabash  of  one  of  the  spoorers,  I  grasped 
my  trusty  two-grooved  rifle,  and  told  my  guide  to 
go  ahead.  We  proceeded  silently  as  might  be  for 
a  few  hundred  yards,  following  the  guide,  when 
he  suddenly  pointed,  exclaiming,  "  Klow ! "  and 
before  us  stood  a  herd  of  mighty  bull  elephants, 
packed  together  beneath  a  shady  grove  about  a 
hundred  and  fifty  yards  in  advance.  I  rode  slowly 
toward  them,  and,  as  soon  as  they  observed  me, 
they  made  a  loud  rumbling  noise,  and,  tossing  their 
trunks,  wheeled  right  about  and  made  off  in  one 
direction,  crashing  through  the  forest  and  leaving 
a  cloud  of  dust  behind  them.  I  was  accompanied 
by  a  detachment  of  my  dogs,  who  assisted  me  in 
the  pursuit. 

The  distance  I  had  come,  and  the  difficulties  I 
had  undergone,  to  behold  these  elephants,  rose 
fresh  before  me.  I  determined  that  on  this  occa- 
sion at  least  I  would  do  my  duty,  and,  dashing 
my  spurs  into  "  Sunday's  "  ribs,  I  was  very  soon 
much  too  close  in  their  rear  for  safety.  The  ele- 
phants now  made  an  inclination  to  my  left,  where- 


138  THE  LION  HUNTER 

by  I  obtained  a  good  view  of  the  ivory.  The  herd 
consisted  of  six  bulls ;  four  of  them  were  full-grown, 
first-rate  elephants;  the  other  two  were  fine  fel- 
lows, but  not  yet  arrived  at  perfect  stature.  Of 
the  four  old  fellows,  two  had  much  finer  tusks  than 
the  rest,  and  for  a  few  seconds  I  was  undecided 
which  of  these  two  I  would  follow ;  when,  suddenly, 
the  one  which  I  fancied  had  the  stoutest  tusks 
broke  from  his  comrades,  and  I  at  once  felt  con- 
vinced that  he  was  the  patriarch  of  the  herd,  and 
followed  him  accordingly.  Cantering  alongside, 
I  was  about  to  fire,  when  he  instantly  turned,  and, 
uttering  a  trumpet  so  strong  and  shrill  that  the 
earth  seemed  to  vibrate  beneath  my  feet,  he  charged 
furiously  after  me  for  several  hundred  yards  in 
a  direct  line,  not  altering  his  course  in  the  slight- 
est degree  for  the  trees  of  the  forest,  which  he 
snapped  and  overthrew  like  reeds  in  his  headlong 
career. 

When  he  pulled  up  in  his  charge,  I  likewise 
halted;  and  as  he  slowly  turned  to  retreat,  I  let 
fly  at  his  shoulder,  "  Sunday "  capering  and 
prancing,  and  giving  me  much  trouble.  On  re- 
ceiving the  ball  the  elephant  shrugged  his  shoul- 
der, and  made  off  at  a  free  majestic  walk.  This 
shot  brought  several  of  the  dogs  to  my  assistance 
which  had  been  following  the  other  elephants,  and 
on  their  coming  up  and  barking  another  headlong 


GIRAFFES  —  ELEPHANTS          139 

charge  was  the  result,  accompanied  by  the  never- 
failing  trumpet  as  before.  In  his  charge  he 
passed  close  to  me,  when  I  saluted  him  with  a  sec- 
ond bullet  in  the  shoulder,  of  which  he  did  not 
take  the  slightest  notice.  I  now  determined  not 
to  fire  again  until  I  could  make  a  steady  shot ;  but, 
although  the  elephant  turned  repeatedly,  "  Sun- 
day "  invariably  disappointed  me,  capering  so  that 
it  was  impossible  to  fire. 

At  length,  exasperated,  I  became  reckless  of  the 
danger,  and,  springing  from  the*  saddle,  ap- 
proached the  elephant  under  cover  of  a  tree,  and 
gave  him  a  bullet  in  the  side  of  the  head,  when, 
trumpeting  so  shrilly  that  the  forest  trembled, 
he  charged  among  the  dogs,  from  whom  he  seemed 
to  fancy  that  the  blow  had  come;  after  which  he 
took  up  a  position  in  a  grove  of  thorns,  with  his 
head  toward  me.  I  walked  up  very  near,  and,  as 
he  was  in  the  act  of  charging  (being  in  those  days 
under  wrong  impressions  as  to  the  impracticability 
of  bringing  down  an  elephant  with  a  shot  in  the 
forehead),  stood  coolly  in  his  path  until  he  was 
within  fifteen  paces  of  me,  and  let  drive  at  the 
hollow  of  his  forehead,  in  the  vain  expectation 
that  by  so  doing  I  should  end  his  career.  The 
shot  only  served  to  increase  his  fury  —  an  effect 
which,  I  had  remarked,  shots  in  the  head  invaria- 
bly produced;  and,  continuing  his  charge  with  in- 


140  THE  LION  HUNTER 

credible  quickness  and  impetuosity,  he  all  but  ter- 
minated my  elephant-hunting  forever. 

A  large  party  of  the  Bechuanas  who  had  come 
up  yelled  out  simultaneously,  imagining  I  was 
killed,  for  the  elephant  was  at  one  moment  almost 
on  the  top  of  me :  I,  however,  escaped  by  my  ac- 
tivity, and  by  dodging  round  the  bushy  trees.  As 
the  elephant  was  charging,  an  enormous  thorn 
ran  deep  into  the  sole  of  my  foot,  the  old  Bade- 
noch  brogues,  which  I  that  day  sported,  being 
worn  through;  and  this  caused  me  severe  pain, 
laming  me  throughout  the  rest  of  the  conflict. 

The  elephant  held  on  through  the  forest  as  a 
sweeping  pace;  but  he  was  hardly  out  of  sight 
when  I  was  loaded  and  in  the  saddle,  and  soon 
once  more  alongside.  About  this  time  I  heard 
Isaac  blazing  away  at  another  bull;  but  when  the 
elephant  charged,  his  cowardly  heart  failed  him, 
and  he  very  soon  made  his  appearance  at  a  safe 
distance  in  my  rear.  My  elephant  kept  crashing 
along  at  a  steady  pace,  with  blood  streaming  from 
his  wounds;  the  dogs,  which  were  knocked  up 
with  fatigue  and  thirst,  no  longer  barked  around 
him,  but  had  dropped  astern.  It  was  long  before 
I  again  fired,  for  I  was  afraid  to  dismount,  and 
"  Sunday  "  was  extremely  troublesome.  At  length 
I  fired  sharp  right  and  left  from  the  saddle:  he 
got  both  balls  behind  the  shoulder,  and  made  a 


GIRAFFES  —  ELEPHANTS          141 

long  charge  after  me,  rumbling  and  trumpeting  as 
before.  The  whole  body  of  the  Bamangwato  men 
had  now  come  up,  and  were  following  a  short  dis- 
tance behind  me.  Among  these  was  Mollyeon, 
who  volunteered  to  help;  and  being  a  very  swift 
and  active  fellow,  he  rendered  me  important  serv- 
ice by  holding  my  fidgety  horse's  head  while  I 
fired  and  loaded.  I  then  fired  six  broadsides  from 
the  saddle,  the  elephant  charging  almost  every 
time,  and  pursuing  us  back  to  the  main  body  in  our 
rear,  who  fled  in  all  directions  as  he  approached. 

The  sun  had  now  sunk  behind  the  tops  of  the 
trees,  it  would  very  soon  be  dark,  and  the  elephant 
did  not  seem  much  distressed,  notwithstanding  all 
he  had  received.  I  recollected  that  my  time  was 
short,  and  therefore  at  once  resolved  to  fire  no 
more  from  the  saddle,  but  to  go  close  up  to  him 
and  fire  on  foot.  Riding  up  to  him,  I  dismounted 
and,  approaching  very  near,  I  gave  it  him  right  and 
left  in  the  side  of  the  head,  upon  which  he  made  a 
long  and  determined  charge  after  me;  but  I  was 
now  very  reckless  of  his  charges,  for  I  saw  that  he 
could  not  overtake  me,  and  in  a  twinkling  I  was 
loaded,  and,  again  approaching,  fired  sharp  right 
and  left  behind  his  shoulder.  Again  he  charged 
with  a  terrific  trumpet,  which  sent  "  Sunday  "  fly- 
ing through  the  forest.  This  was  his  last  charge. 
The  wounds  which  he  had  received  began  to  tell 


142  THE  LION  HUNTER 

on  his  constitution,  and  he  now  stood  at  bay  be- 
side a  thorny  tree,  with  the  dogs  barking  around 
him.  These,  refreshed  by  the  evening  breeze,  and 
perceiving  that  it  was  nearly  over  with  the  ele- 
phant, had  once  more  come  to  my  assistance. 

Having  loaded,  I  drew  near  and  fired  right  and 
left  at  his  forehead.  On  receiving  these  shots,  in- 
stead of  charging,  he  tossed  his  trunk  up  and  down, 
and  by  various  sounds  and  motions,  most  gratify- 
ing to  the  hungry  natives,  evinced  that  his  demise 
was  near.  Again  I  loaded,  and  fired  my  last  shot 
behind  his  shoulder:  on  receiving  it,  he  turned 
round  the  bushy  tree  beside  which  he  stood,  and 
I  ran  round  to  give  him  the  other  barrel,  but  the 
mighty  old  monarch  of  the  forest  needed  no  more: 
before  I  could  clear  the  bushy  tree  he  fell  heavily 
on  his  side,  and  his  spirit  had  fled.  My  feeling  at 
this  moment  can  only  be  understood  by  a  few 
brother  Nimrods  who  have  had  the  good  fortune  to 
enjoy  a  similar  encounter.  I  never  felt  so  grati- 
fied on  any  former  occasion  as  I  did  then. 

By  this  time  all  the  natives  had  come  up ;  they 
were  in  the  highest  spirits,  and  nocked  around  the 
elephant,  laughing  and  talking  at  a  rapid  pace. 
I  climbed  on  to  him,  and  sat  enthroned  upon  his 
side,  which  was  as  high  as  my  eyes  when  standing 
on  the  ground.  In  a  few  minutes  night  set  in, 
when  the  natives,  having  illuminated  the  jungle 


GIRAFFES  —  ELEPHANTS          143 

with  a  score  of  fires,  and  formed  a  semicircle  of 
bushes  to  windward,  lay  down  to  rest  without  par- 
taking of  a  morsel  of  food.  Mutchuisho  would 
not  allow  a  man  to  put  an  assagai  into  the  ele- 
phant until  the  morrow,  and  placed  two  relays  of 
sentries  to  keep  watch  on  either  side  of  him.  My 
dinner  consisted  of  a  piece  of  flesh  from  the  temple 
of  the  elephant,  which  I  broiled  on  the  hot  em- 
bers. In  the  conflict  I  had  lost  my  shirt,  which 
was  reduced  to  streamers  by  the  wait-a-bit  thorns, 
and  all  the  clothing  that  remained  was  a  pair  of 
buckskin  knee-breeches. 

The  night  was  very  cold,  it  being  now  the  dead 
of  the  African  winter.  Having  collected  dry 
grass,  I  spread  it  beside  my  fire,  and  laid  down  for 
the  night  with  no  other  covering  than  an  old  sheep- 
skin which  I  had  used  for  a  saddle-cloth.  Shortly 
after  I  had  dropped  asleep,  Mutchuisho,  commis- 
erating my  bare  condition,  spread  an  old  jackal 
kaross  over  me.  This  kaross,  as  all  Bechuana  gar- 
ments are,  was  thickly  tenanted  by  small  trans- 
parent insects,  usually  denominated  lice.  These 
virulent  creatures,  probably  finding  my  skin  more 
tender  than  that  of  the  owner  of  the  kaross,  seemed 
resolved  to  enjoy  a  banquet  while  they  could;  and 
presently  I  awoke  with  my  whole  body  so  poisoned 
and  inflamed  that  I  felt  as  if  attacked  with  a  severe 
fever.  All  further  rest  that  night  was  at  an  end. 


144  THE  LION  HUNTER 

I  returned  the  kaross  to  Mutchuisho,  with  grateful 
acknowledgments  for  his  polite  intentions;  and 
piling  dry  wood  on  the  fire,  which  emitted  a  light  as 
bright  as  day,  I  aroused  the  slumbering  Kleinboy 
to  assist  me  in  turning  my  buckskins  outside  in, 
when  an  animating  "  chasse  "  commenced,  which 
terminated  in  the  capture  of  about  fourscore  of  my 
white-currant  colored  visitors.  I  then  lit  another 
fire  opposite  to  the  first,  and  spent  the  remainder 
of  the  night  squatted  between  the  two,  thus  imbib- 
ing caloric  before  and  behind. 

As  the  sun  rose  on  the  morning  of  the  25th, 
Mutchuisho  gave  the  word  to  cut  up  the  elephant, 
when  a  scene  of  blood,  noise,  and  turmoil  ensued 
which  baffles  all  description.  Every  native  there, 
divested  of  his  kaross  and  armed  with  an  assagai, 
rushed  to  the  onslaught ;  and  in  less  than  two  hours 
every  inch  of  the  elephant  was  gone,  and  carried  by 
the  different  parties  to  their  respective  temporary 
locations,  which  they  had  chosen  beneath  each  con- 
venient tree  that  grew  around. 

The  manner  in  which  the  elephant  is  cut  up  is  as 
follows :  The  rough  outer  skin  is  first  removed,  in 
large  sheets,  from  the  side  which  lies  uppermost. 
Several  coats  of  an  under  skin  are  then  met  with. 
This  skin  is  of  a  tough  and  pliant  nature,  and  is 
used  by  the  natives  for  making  water-bags,  in  which 
they  convey  supplies  of  water  from  the  nearest  vley 


GIRAFFES  —  ELEPHANTS          145 

or  fountain  (which  is  often  ten  miles  distant)  to 
the  elephant.  They  remove  this  inner  skin  with 
caution,  taking  care  not  to  cut  it  with  the  assagai ; 
and  it  is  formed  into  water-bags  by  gathering  the 
corners  and  edges,  and  transfixing  the  whole  on  a 
pointed  wand.  The  flesh  is  then  removed  in  enor- 
mous sheets  from  the  ribs,  when  the  hatchets  come 
into  play,  with  which  they  chop  through,  and  re- 
move individually,  each  colossal  rib.  The  bowels 
are  thus  laid  bare ;  and  in  the  removal  of  these  the 
leading  men  take  a  lively  interest  and  active  part, 
for  it  is  throughout  and  around  the  bowels  that  the 
fat  of  the  elephant  is  mainly  found. 

There  are  few  things  which  a  Bechuana  prizes 
so  highly  as  fat  of  any  description ;  they  will  go  an 
amazing  distance  for  a  small  portion  of  it.  They 
use  it  principally  in  cooking  their  sun-dried  bil- 
tongue,  and  they  also  eat  it  with  their  corn.  The 
fat  of  the  elephant  lies  in  extensive  layers  and 
sheets  in  his  inside,  and  the  quantity  which  is  ob- 
tained from  a  full-grown  bull,  in  high  condition,  is 
very  great.  Before  it  can  be  obtained,  the  greater 
part  of  the  bowels  must  be  removed.  To  accom- 
plish this,  several  men  eventually  enter  the  immense 
cavity  of  his  inside,  where  they  continue  mining 
away  with  their  assagais,  and  handing  the  fat  to 
their  comrades  outside  until  all  is  bare.  While 
this  is  transpiring  with  the  sides  and  bowels,  other 


146  THE  LION  HUNTER 

parties  are  equally  active  in  removing  the  skin  and 
flesh  from  the  remaining  parts  of  the  carcass. 

The  natives  have  a  horrid  practice  on  these  oc- 
casions of  besmearing  their  bodies,  from  the  crown 
of  the  head  to  the  sole  of  the  foot,  with  the  black 
and  clotted  gore ;  and  in  this  anointing  they  assist 
one  another,  each  man  taking  up  the  fill  in  both  his 
hands,  and  spreading  it  over  the  back  and  shoul- 
ders of  his  friend.  Throughout  the  entire  pro- 
ceeding an  incessant  and  deafening  clamor  of  many 
voices  and  confused  sounds  is  maintained,  and  vio- 
lent jostling  and  wrestling  are  practiced  by  every 
man,  elbowing  the  breasts  and  countenances  of  his 
fellows,  all  slippery  with  gore,  as  he  endeavors  to 
force  his  way  to  the  venison  through  the  dense  in- 
tervening ranks,  while  the  sharp  and  ready  assagai 
gleams  in  every  hand.  The  angry  voices  and  gory 
appearances  of  these  naked  savages,  combined  with 
their  excited  and  frantic  gestures  and  glistening 
arms,  presented  an  effect  so  wild  and  striking,  that 
when  I  first  beheld  the  scene  I  contemplated  it  in 
the  momentary  expectation  of  beholding  one  half 
of  the  gathering  turn  their  weapons  against  the 
other. 

The  trunk  and  feet  are  considered  a  delicacy, 
and  a  detachment  are  employed  on  these.  The 
four  feet  are  amputated  at  the  fetlock  joint,  and 
the  trunk,  which  at  the  base  is  about  two  feet  in 


GIRAFFES  —  ELEPHANTS          147 

thickness,  is  cut  into  convenient  lengths.  Trunk 
and  feet  are  then  baked,  preparatory  to  their  re- 
moval to  head-quarters.  The  manner  in  which  this 
is  done  is  as  follows :  a  party,  provided  with  sharp- 
pointed  sticks  digs  a  hole  in  the  ground  for 
each  foot  and  a  portion  of  the  trunk.  These  holes 
are  about  two  feet  deep,  and  a  yard  in  width;  the 
excavated  earth  is  embanked  around  the  margin 
of  the  hole.  This  work  being  completed,  they  next 
collect  an  immense  quantity  of  dry  branches  and 
trunks  of  trees,  of  which  there  is  always  a  pro- 
fusion scattered  around,  having  been  broken  by  the 
elephants  in  former  years.  These  they  pile  above 
the  holes  to  the  height  of  eight  or  nine  feet,  and 
then  set  fire  to  the  heap.  When  these  strong  fires 
have  burned  down,  and  the  whole  of  the  wood  is  re- 
duced to  ashes,  the  holes  and  the  surrounding  earth 
are  heated  in  a  high  degree.  Ten  or  twelve  men 
then  stand  round  the  pit,  and  rake  out  the  ashes 
with  a  pole  about  sixteen  feet  in  length,  having  a 
hook  at  the  end. 

They  relieve  one  another  in  quick  succession, 
each  man  running  in  and  raking  the  ashes  for  a 
few  seconds,  and  then  pitching  the  pole  to  his  com- 
rade and  retreating,  since  the  heat  is  so  intense 
that  it  is  scarcely  to  be  endured.  When  all  the 
ashes  are  thus  raked  out  beyond  the  surrounding 
bank  of  earth,  each  elephant's  foot  and  portion  of 


148  THE  LION  HUNTER 

the  trunk  is  lifted  by  two  athletic  men,  standing 
side  by  side,  who  place  it  on  their  shoulders,  and, 
approaching  the  pit  together,  they  heave  it  into  it. 
The  long  pole  is  now  again  resumed,  and  with  it 
they  shove  in  the  heated  bank  of  earth  upon  the 
foot,  shoving  and  raking  until  it  is  completely 
buried  in  the  earth.  The  hot  embers,  of  which 
there  is  always  a  great  supply,  are  then  raked  into 
a  heap  above  the  foot,  and  another  bonfire  is  kin- 
dled over  each,  which  is  allowed  to  burn  down  and 
die  a  natural  death,  by  which  time  the  enormous 
foot  or  trunk  will  be  found  to  be  equally  baked 
throughout  its  inmost  parts.  When  the  foot  is 
supposed  to  be  ready,  it  is  taken  out  of  the  ground 
with  pointed  sticks,  and  is  first  well  beaten,  and 
then  scraped  with  an  assagai,  whereby  adhering 
particles  of  sand  are  got  rid  of.  The  outside  is 
then  pared  off,  and  it  is  transfixed  with  a  sharp 
stake  for  facility  of  carriage. 

The  feet,  thus  cooked,  are  excellent,  as  is  also 
the  trunk,  which  very  much  resembles  buffalo's 
tongue.  The  reason  why  such  large  fires  are  requi- 
site is  owing  to  the  mass  of  the  flesh  that  must  be 
baked.  In  raking  the  sand  on  the  foot,  the  natives 
are  careful  not  to  rake  the  red-hot  embers  in  with 
it,  which  would  burn  and  destroy  the  meat ;  whereas 
the  sand  or  earth  protects  it,  imparting  an  even 


GIRAFFES  —  ELEPHANTS          149 

and  steady  heat.  When  the  natives  have  cut  up 
the  elephant,  and  removed  the  large  masses  of  flesh, 
etc.,  to  their  respective  temporary  kraals  around, 
they  sit  down  for  a  little  to  rest  and  draw  their 
breath,  and  for  a  short  time  smoking  and  snuffing 
are  indulged  in.  ... 

The  natives,  having  drawn  their  breath,  once 
more  devote  their  attention  to  the  flesh,  which  they 
next  reduce  to  biltongue,  cutting  every  morsel  into 
thin  strips  from  six  to  twenty  feet  in  length. 
These  strips  are  of  the  breadth  and  thickness  of  a 
man's  two  fingers.  When  all  is  reduced  to  bil- 
tongue, they  sally  forth  with  their  tomahawks,  and 
cut  down  a  number  of  poles  of  two  sorts,  for  up- 
rights and  cross-poles.  The  uprights  are  eight 
feet  long,  and  forked  at  one  end.  They  place  them 
upright  in  the  ground  around  their  respective  trees, 
laying  the  cross-poles  resting  on  the  forks,  and 
these  are  adorned  with  endless  garlands  of  the  raw 
meat,  which  is  permitted  to  hang  in  the  sun  for  two 
or  three  days,  when  it  will  have  lost  much  of  its 
weight,  and  be  stiff  and  easy  to  be  carried.  They 
then  remove  the  biltongue  from  the  poles,  and,  fold- 
ing it  together,  they  form  it  into  bundles,  which 
are  strongly  lashed  and  secured  with  long  strips  of 
the  tough  inner  bark  of  thorny  mimosas.  Their 
work  in  the  forest  is  now  completed,  and,  each  man 


150  THE  LION  HUNTER 

placing  one  bundle  on  his  head,  and  slinging  several 
others  across  his  shoulders,  returns  to  his  wife  and 
family  at  head-quarters. 

The  appearance  which  the  flesh  of  a  single  ele- 
phant exhibits  when  reduced  to  strips  and  sus- 
pended from  the  poles  is  truly  surprising,  the 
forest  far  around  displaying  a  succession  of  ruby 
festoons,  and  reminding  one  of  a  vineyard  laden 
with  its  clustering  fruits.  When  the  skull  of  my 
elephant  was  ready  for  the  ax,  Mutchuisho  caused 
a  party  to  hew  out  for  me  the  tusks  —  a  work  of 
great  labor,  and  needing  considerable  skill.  In  the 
present  instance  the  work  was  clumsily  executed, 
the  natives  hacking  and  injuring  the  ivory  in  re- 
moving the  bone  with  their  little  tomahawks.  In 
consequence  of  this,  I  invariably  afterward  per- 
formed the  task  myself,  using  superior  American 
hatchets,  which  I  had  provided  expressly  for  the 
purpose.  When  the  tusks  had  been  extracted,  I 
saddled  up  and  started  for  the  camp,  accompanied 
by  my  after-riders  and  a  party  of  the  natives  bear- 
ing the  ivory,  with  a  supply  of  baked  foot  and 
trunk  and  a  portion  of  the  flesh.  The  natives  had 
appropriated  all  the  rest,  and  when  I  left  them 
they  were  quarreling  over  the  remnant  of  the  skull, 
whose  marrowy  bones  were  in  high  demand.  They 
fought  for  every  chip  as  it  flew  from  the  ax,  and 
chewed  it  raw.  On  our  way  to  camp  we  passed 


GIRAFFES  —  ELEPHANTS          151 

through  the  kraal  of  the  Bakalahari,  situated  in 
the  mountain  range.  In  the  valleys  they  had 
formed  considerable  gardens,  in  which  corn  and 
water-melons  were  extensively  grown.  I  was  right 
glad  to  reach  my  comfortable  camp,  and  get  a  bowl 
of  coffee. 

On  the  evening  of  the  26th  men  kept  pouring 
into  camp  heavily  laden  with  the  flesh  of  the  ele- 
phant, a  large  part  of  which  was  for  Sicomy :  they 
halted  with  me  for  the  night,  and  resumed  their 
march  in  the  morning. 


CHAPTER  V 

ELEPHANTS 

ON  the  27th  of  July  I  resolved  to  move  my 
wagons  further  to  the  east,  and  informed 
the  wagon-drivers  of  my  intentions : 
they,  however,  raised  many  objections,  and  all  but 
gave  me  a  direct  refusal.  As  I  was  not  aware  of 
the  position  of  the  waters,  and  knew  well  that 
Isaac  would  not  assist  me  in  discovering  them,  I 
deemed  it  prudent  first  to  make  an  excursion  to 
the  east  on  horseback.  I  accordingly  stowed  some 
ammunition  and  a  washing-rod  in  my  old  game-bag 
(to  the  inside  of  which,  by-the-by,  adhered  a  goodly 
coating  of  the  scales  of  grilse  and  salmon,  along 
with  sundry  speckled  and  blood-stained  feathers  of 
the  grouse  and  partridge),  and  having  made  bread 
and  ground  coffee  sufficient  for  three  days'  con- 
sumption, I  ordered  two  of  my  men  to  be  ready  to 
accompany  me  next  morning. 

My  interpreter's  countenance  never  lacked  a 
scowl;  and,  instead  of  forwarding  my  interests,  he 
actively  employed  his  energies  in  sowing  dissension 

between  me   and   the   natives,   and   disseminating 
152 


ELEPHANTS  153 

mutiny  among  my  Hottentots.  I  discovered  that 
all  along  he  had  deceived  me,  and  carefully  con- 
cealed the  direction  where  elephants  most  abounded, 
and  I  began  to  think  that,  in  justice  to  myself,  it 
was  high  time  that  he  should  be  ignominiously  dis- 
missed the  service. 

On  the  28th,  as  I  was  breakfasting,  natives  ar- 
rived and  reported  fresh  spoor  within  a  mile  of 
camp.  I  therefore  resolved  to  defer  for  the  pres- 
ent the  trip  to  the  eastward  on  which  I  had  de- 
termined ;  but  it  so  happened  that  the  spoor  which 
was  reported  led  me  in  that  direction,  and  was  the 
means  of  introducing  me  to  a  succession  of  fine 
hunting  districts,  throughout  which  elephant  and 
rhinoceros  were  abundant.  Everything  being 
ready,  I  proceeded  to  take  up  the  spoor,  accompa- 
nied by  after-riders  and  about  a  hundred  of  the 
Bamangwato  men,  fresh  parties  having  joined  me: 
it  was  the  spoor  of  a  small  troop  of  cow  elephants. 
Mutchuisho  and  the  spooring  party  took  it  up  in  a 
masterly  manner,  and  went  along  at  a  quick  pace 
all  day,  with  scarcely  a  check,  until  we  found  the 
elephants.  The  spoor  led  us  first  through  a  gorge 
in  the  mountains,  which  I  mentioned  as  having 
rounded  on  the  24th ;  after  which  we  followed  it  in 
an  easterly  course,  skirting  the  base  of  the  moun- 
tain chain. 

The   country   increased   in  beauty   as   we   ad- 


154  THE  LION  HUNTER 

vanced ;  and,  having  followed  the  spoor  some  hours, 
it  led  us  into  a  new  variety  of  country,  and,  as  I 
fancied,  into  a  new  climate.  Here  large  trees  were 
abundant,  and  the  grass  and  leaves  were  much 
greener  than  in  the  country  we  had  left  behind. 
We  crossed  the  gravelly  beds  of  two  periodical 
rivers.  In  one  of  these  I  observed  the  recent  spoor 
of  a  herd  of  bull  elephants  deeply  imprinted  in  the 
sand.  This  day  the  wind,  which  had  for  weeks 
been  cold  and  blighting,  blowing  off  the  icebergs 
of  the  Southern  Ocean,  shifted  to  northeast,  and 
breathed  warm  and  balmy  upon  us. 

As  we  advanced  the  work  of  elephants  became 
more  and  more  apparent  on  the  trees  and  in  the 
earth,  and  late  in  the  afternoon  we  reached  ground 
where  a  large  herd  of  cows  had  fed  that  morning. 
Here  we  had  a  short  check,  when  Mutchuisho  rated 
the  trackers  for  their  negligence ;  and,  having  dis- 
patched parties  to  try  back  upon  the  spoor,  and 
extended  others  to  make  casts  on  our  right  and  left, 
he  leisurely  ensconced  himself  beneath  a  shady  tree, 
and  proceeded,  along  with  several  of  his  cronies,  to 
enjoy  the  luxury  of  taking  snuff,  which  important 
ceremony  having  been  duly  performed,  they  began 
with  the  utmost  gravity  to  smooth  a  portion  of  the 
ground  before  them,  preparatory  to  casting  the 
mystic  dice  which  most  of  the  Bechuanas  carry 
strung  around  their  necks. 


ELEPHANTS  155 

These  dice,  which  are  of  sundry  indescribable 
shapes,  are  formed  of  ivory,  and  the  Bechuanas  in- 
variably appeal  to  them  before  entering  upon  any 
project  of  importance,  to  ascertain  the  probability 
of  its  ultimate  success.  Having  unstrung  the  dice, 
which  are  four  in  number,  they  rattle  them  be- 
tween their  hands,  and  drop  them  on  the  ground, 
when  the  long-headed  old  men  carefully  study  the 
directions  of  the  points,  and  decide  the  merits  of  the 
case  accordingly. 

In  the  present  instance  the  dice  spoke  favorably, 
auguring  the  speedy  capture  of  an  elephant;  and 
one  of  the  trackers  at  this  moment  coming  up,  and 
stating  that  his  comrades  had  regained  the  spoor, 
we  sprang  to  our  feet  and  again  held  on.  We  had 
proceeded  about  half  a  mile  when  we  suddenly  be- 
held a  herd  of  about  twelve  old  cow  elephants,  some 
of  which  were  accompanied  by  little  calves,  feeding 
high  on  the  side  of  the  rocky  mountain,  about  five 
hundred  yards  to  our  right.  The  intervening 
ground  was  a  dense  and  almost  impenetrable  mass 
of  wait-a-bit  thorny  bushes,  averaging  twenty  feet 
in  height,  every  inch  of  which  was  to  be  dreaded  as 
the  hooks  upon  a  "  kill-devil." 

On  perceiving  the  elephants,  we  halted,  and 
Mutchuisho  dispatched  two  men  to  windward,  in 
the  hope  of  driving  them  from  the  impracticable 
ground  they  occupied  into  the  level  forest  where 


156  THE  LION  HUNTER 

we  stood.  The  elephants,  however,  were  much  too 
wide  awake  to  leave  their  strong-hold  of  wait-a-bit 
bushes.  On  getting  the  wind  of  the  men  they 
tossed  their  trunks,  and,  wheeling  about,  held  along 
the  mountain  side  at  a  rapid  pace,  until  they 
reached  an  impenetrable  jungle  of  thorns,  from 
which  all  our  efforts  proved  unavailing  to  dislodge 
them. 

This  jungle  densely  covered  the  sides  and  bot- 
tom of  a  wide  semicircular  basin  or  hollow  in  the 
mountains ;  it  was  throughout  so  dense  that  a  man 
on  foot  could  scarcely  penetrate  it.  When  the 
elephants  started  I  rode  hard  after  them,  followed 
by  my  after-riders,  and,  not  understanding  the 
intentions  of  the  elephants,  we  followed  on  through 
the  mazes  of  the  jungle  in  an  elephant  path  until 
we  reached  the  center  of  the  thicket,  when  we  sud- 
denly found  ourselves  upon  them.  The  dogs  then 
ran  in  barking,  when  a  general  trumpeting  took 
place,  and  a  charging  and  crashing  in  all  direc- 
tions, and,  owing  to  the  extremely  dangerous  na- 
ture of  the  ground,  I  was  glad  to  beat  a  precipitate 
retreat. 

Once  more  all  was  quiet;  my  dogs  were  jaded 
with  the  sun,  and  would  not  fight.  Fancying  that 
the  elephants  had  gone  ahead,  and  fearing  to  lose 
them,  I  again  pushed  on,  holding  the  foot-path  as 
before,  when  crash  came  a  second  charge  of  ele- 


ELEPHANTS  157 

phants  at  our  very  elbows,  accompanied  by  a  trum- 
peting which  caused  our  ears  to  tingle.  They 
charged  upon  us  from  opposite  directions,  and  we 
were  actually  in  the  very  middle  of  them.  They 
were  extremely  fierce,  and,  but  for  the  dogs,  not  a 
man  of  us  had  escaped  to  tell  the  tale. 

Fortunately,  the  dogs,  which  they  seemed  to 
think  designed  the  capture  of  their  calves,  en- 
grossed their  whole  attention;  whereas,  by  reason 
of  the  color  of  the  horses  on  which  we  rode,  they 
took  us  for  gregarious  creatures  like  themselves, 
and  actually  grazing  our  animals'  haunches  with 
their  legs,  they  left  us  scatheless  and  pursued  the 
dogs.  I  seldom  remember  a  more  startling  or  dan- 
gerous position ;  it  was  a  decided  case  of  "  De'il  tak 
the  hin'most."  Spurs  and  jamboks  were  ener- 
getically plied ;  there  was  no  time  to  select  a  path. 
Placing  my  head  below  my  horse's  neck  and  trust- 
ing to  Providence,  I  charged  through  the  thickest 
of  the  thorns,  and  presently  found  myself  out  of 
the  way  of  the  elephants.  I  know  nothing  which 
so  effectually  teaches  a  hunter  the  art  of  riding 
through  "  Vacht  um  bige,"  or  "  wait-a-bit  "  jungle, 
in  an  artistical  manner,  as  hearing  the  trumpet  of 
an  enraged  elephant,  which  is  following  about  a 
spear's  length  in  his  wake.  After  a  few  such  les- 
sons he  will  have  learned  to  bring  his  breast  in 
contact  with  the  side  of  his  horse's  neck,  his  head 


158  THE  LION  HUNTER 

being  well  under  it,  whereby  his  prominent  feature 
will  be  secured,  and,  agitating  his  persuaders,  he 
will  dive  through  the  most  impracticable  "  wait-a- 
bits  "  with  apparently  the  facility  with  which  an 
Eton  boy  takes  a  header  into  the  Thames  at  the 
Lion's  Leap. 

With  very  great  difficulty,  we  got  clear  of  the 
cover  and  gained  the  level  forest  on  the  lower  side. 
By  this  time  the  natives  had  lined  the  side  of  the 
mountain  above  the  cover,  and  were  shouting  and 
yelling  in  the  hope  of  driving  out  the  elephants; 
but  not  a  man  would  venture  in.  Presently  some 
of  them  came  round  to  me,  and  I  proposed  to  go  in 
on  foot,  but  they  would  not  hear  of  it,  saying  that 
the  elephants  were  extremely  fierce  and  would  kill 
me  to  a  certainty.  I  then  proposed  that  all  the 
natives  should  enter  the  jungle  in  a  line,  and  try 
to  drive  them  out;  but  they  said  that  no  power 
could  force  the  elephants  from  their  strong-hold 
until  night  set  in. 

The  elephants  now  shifted  their  ground  a  little, 
forcing  their  way  through  the  jungle  to  the  higher 
side  of  the  basin.  Leaving  the  horses  in  charge 
of  a  native,  I  went  round  to  the  line  of  men  above. 
Here  I  commanded  a  fine  view  of  the  exasperated 
elephants,  being  high  above  them,  and  distant 
about  two  hundred  and  fifty  yards,  and  I  observed 
that  they  displayed  considerable  cunning  in  their 


ELEPHANTS  159 

movements.  Placing  my  rifle  on  a  forked  branch, 
and  giving  it  the  proper  elevation,  I  let  drive  at 
the  nearest  cow,  and  wounded  her  severely.  The 
shot  reverberated  through  the  dale,  and  the  dogs 
once  more  ran  into  the  midst  of  them,  when  a  gen- 
eral charge  and  trumpeting  ensued,  which  was  truly 
terrific.  They  rushed  after  the  dogs,  following 
them  up  to  a  great  distance,  crashing  through  and 
upsetting  the  high,  bushy  wait-a-bits  and  other 
trees  like  grass.  They  then  turned  and  formed  in 
two  separate  detachments,  standing  thick  together ; 
but  two  wicked  old  cows  that  had  calves  stood  far 
out  from  the  others,  with  their  heads  turned  to  us, 
ready  to  charge  whatever  might  approach  too  near 
their  young. 

I  saw  that  it  was  extremely  dangerous  to  attack 
them ;  but  the  sun  was  now  fast  sinking  behind  a 
shoulder  of  the  mountains,  so  I  resolved  to  defy  all 
chances  and  enter  the  cover.  I  first,  however,  fired 
two  shots  at  the  elephants  that  formed  the  ad- 
vanced pickets ;  both  cows  got  it  in  the  ribs,  and, 
finding  themselves  wounded,  retreated  to  the  main 
body,  where  they  stood  smashing  the  trees  with 
rage,  and,  catching  up  volumes  of  the  red  dust 
with  their  trunks,  threw  it  in  clouds  above  their 
backs.  Mutchuisho  and  I  now  descended  into  the 
jungle,  and  crept  stealthily  along,  listening  for 
the  breathing  of  the  elephants.  They  had  moved 


160  THE  LION  HUNTER 

to  the  lower  side,  and  were  standing  thick  together 
within  one  hundred  yards  of  the  outside. 

On  ascertaining  their  position,  we  emerged  from 
the  cover,  and  followed  along  the  outside  until  we 
were  opposite  them.  I  then  stalked  in  within 
twenty  yards,  and  fired  at  the  side  of  the  head  of 
the  elephant  that  stood  next  to  me ;  and  before  the 
smoke  had  cleared,  my  back  was  to  them,  and  I  was 
running  for  the  outside  of  the  cover  at  my  utmost 
speed.  The  elephants  held  their  ground ;  so,  hav- 
ing loaded,  I  again  drew  near,  and  fired  sharp  right 
and  left  into  another,  and,  turning  my  back,  ran 
for  it  once  more.  Re-entering  the  cover  a  third 
time,  I  was  listening  which  way  they  had  gone, 
when,  casting  my  eyes  to  the  left,  a  noble  elephant 
lay  dead  before  me.  The  ball  had  penetrated  to 
her  brain,  and  she  had  dropped  dead  upon  the 
spot. 

A  little  after  this  an  old  cow  came  charging  after 
the  dogs,  and  took  up  a  position  in  the  jungle  close 
beside  us.  We  heard  her  preparing  for  a  second 
charge,  when  the  natives  beat  a  precipitate  retreat ; 
but  I  very  rashly  waited  to  receive  her,  and  just 
as  she  cleared  the  cover  I  let  fly  at  her  forehead. 
Regardless  of  my  shot,  she  came  down  upon  me  at  a 
tremendous  pace,  shrilly  trumpeting.  It  was 
rather  a  near  thing,  for  I  was  burdened  with  my 
rifle  and  rhinoceros-horn  loading-rod,  and  my 


ELEPHANTS  161 

shooting-belt  containing  about  forty  rounds  of  am- 
munition. I  escaped  her  by  my  speed,  and  the 
instant  she  halted  I  faced  about,  and  gave  her  the 
other  barrel  behind  the  shoulder. 

Night  now  set  in,  and  I  saw  no  more  of  the 
elephants.  A  number  of  them  were  wounded  and 
must  have  died;  I,  however,  felt  satisfied  with  the 
one  I  had  secured.  The  natives  made  me  more  cau- 
tious than  I  should  otherwise  have  been,  and,  had 
we  found  them  at  an  earlier  hour,  I  should  prob- 
ably have  killed  one  half  the  troop.  Weary  and 
hungry,  we  formed  our  kraals  and  kindled  fires ; 
after  which,  having  partaken  of  the  elephant,  I  lay 
down  to  sleep  beside  my  fire. 

On  the  29th  I  sent  Carollus  to  the  wagons  with 
instructions  to  bring  all  the  horses  and  the  Bush- 
man, with  bread,  coffee,  and  ammunition.  In  the 
forenoon  I  ascended  the  neighboring  mountain 
range  to  obtain  a  view  of  the  surrounding  country. 
On  clearing  the  first  ridge  I  looked  down  upon  a 
bold  and  romantic  gorge,  which  here  intersected  the 
mountain  chain,  connecting  the  forests  on  either 
side.  Far  below  me,  through  the  bottom  of  the 
ravine,  twined  the  gravelly  bed  of  a  periodical  river, 
which  in  the  rainy  season  flows  in  an  easterly  direc- 
tion. Though  in  all  other  parts  this  gravelly 
channel  was  now  dry,  yet  just  at  this  spot,  deep 
in  the  bosom  of  the  mountains,  its  bed  was  covered 


162  THE  LION  HUNTER 

with  delicious  spring  water  to  a  depth  of  several 
inches;  and  here  the  elephants  had  excavated  sun- 
dry holes,  about  two  feet  deep,  for  the  purpose  of 
drinking.  I  descended  to  the  water  by  an  elephant 
path,  and  stood  long  contemplating  the  interesting 
spot.  The  bed  of  the  river  was  deeply  imprinted 
with  the  spoor  of  elephants,  buffaloes,  and  rhi- 
noceros, of  various  dates.  The  gorge  was  wide  and 
open  by  the  water,  and  its  abrupt  and  rocky  sides 
were  adorned  with  a  profusion  of  trees  and  shrubs. 
A  little  further  down  the  gorge  was  more  confined, 
the  river  winding  through  huge  perpendicular  walls 
of  rock,  that  raised  their  giant  forms  on  both  sides 
to  a  height  of  several  hundred  feet. 

From  the  basis  of  these  stupendous  ramparts  to 
the  margin  of  the  river  on  either  side  was  a  sloping 
bank  along  which  grew  an  avenue  of  picturesque 
acacias  of  enormous  bulk  and  lofty  stature;  be- 
neath these  were  well-beaten  paths  of  elephants, 
and  the  sides  of  the  trees  were  well  polished  to  the 
usual  distance  from  the  ground.  Leaving  the 
river,  I  ascended  to  the  summits  of  loftier  hills  be- 
yond, where  I  commanded  a  glorious  prospect  of 
the  endless  gray  forests  which  stretched  away  as 
far  as  I  could  see  over  slightly  undulating  country, 
the  faint  blue  outline  of  extensive  mountain  ranges 
bounding  the  landscape  to  the  east.  Descending 
from  my  lofty  station,  I  discovered  four  bull  buffa- 


ELEPHANTS  163 

loes  feeding  in  the  valley  far  beneath  me;  I  left 
them  undisturbed,  and  bent  my  steps  toward  the 
carcass  of  the  elephant. 

In  the  evening  Carollus  arrived,  bringing  the 
horses  and  ammunition,  and  accompanied  by  a 
numerous  body  of  the  natives.  At  an  early  hour 
on  the  30th  I  started  with  Mutchuisho  and  a  nu- 
merous retinue  to  search  for  elephants  in  an  east- 
erly direction,  and  we  crossed  the  gravelly  bed  of 
the  River  Mahalapia,  about  a  mile  below  the  gorge 
I  had  visited  on  the  preceding  day.  In  after  years 
I  renewed  my  acquaintance  with  the  Mahalappa,  on 
the  banks  of  the  fair  Limpopo,  into  which  it  emp- 
ties itself  several  days'  journey  to  the  east. 

This  was  one  of  the  loveliest  spots  I  had  seen  in 
Southern  Africa:  a  bold  bend  of  the  river  was 
adorned  with  groves  of  remarkably  lofty  and  pic- 
turesque acacias.  Three  trees  in  particular,  of 
the  same  description,  graced  the  spot,  which  in  size 
and  beauty  surpassed  any  I  had  hitherto  met  with, 
carrying  their  thickness  to  an  immense  height  from 
the  ground,  when  they  divided  into  goodly 
branches,  which  stretched  away  in  beauty  to  the 
skies. 

Here,  in  the  bed  of  the  river,  we  took  up  the 
spoor  of  a  huge  bull  elephant,  and,  having  followed 
it  a  short  distance  through  the  verdant  forest,  we 
starred  the  old  fellow,  but  no  man  saw  him.  The 


164.  THE  LION  HUNTER 

great  body  of  the  natives  never  would  be  quiet,  and 
ever  pressed  upon  the  spooring  party,  notwith- 
standing my  remonstrances.  One  native  heard 
him,  but  said  he  thought  it  was  a  rhinoceros.  In 
half  a  minute,  however,  we  discovered  our  mistake, 
and  there  ensued  a  general  rush  upon  the  spoor,  at 
a  pace  which  must  shortly  have  overtaken  him,  for 
he  had  not  started  in  great  alarm.  Whistling  to 
my  dogs,  they  took  up  the  scent  and  went  ahead ; 
but  as  I  galloped  after  them,  expecting  every  in- 
stant to  behold  the  elephant,  whose  spoor  I  now 
saw  beneath  my  horse's  feet,  an  unlucky  troop  of 
camelopards  dashed  across  our  path,  and  away 
went  all  the  dogs,  leaving  me  in  the  lurch  just  as  I 
was  upon  the  elephant.  The  trackers,  however, 
soon  came  up,  and  we  again  held  briskly  on,  but 
had  not  proceeded  far  when  we  entered  upon 
ground  so  covered  with  fresh  footmarks  that  the 
trackers  in  their  haste  overran  the  spoor  we  fol- 
lowed, and  a  long  check  was  the  result.  Here,  to 
add  to  my  annoyance,  another  large  herd  of  camel- 
opards came  cantering  up  the  wind,  and  dashed 
away  before  us,  to  spread  further  alarm. 

Old  Mutchuisho  now  came  up  in  a  state  of  in- 
tense excitement,  his  watery  eyes  fixed  upon  the 
ground,  and  his  tongue  going  like  perpetual  mo- 
tion. He  blew  up  the  trackers  right  and  left,  who 
seemed  to  quail  before  his  menacing  aspect,  and 


ELEPHANTS  165 

redoubled  their  energies  in  the  doubtful  pursuit. 
Presently  one  of  these,  loudly  smacking  his 
"  nether  end,"  intimated  that  he  had  hit  off  the 
proper  spoor.  This  peculiar  signal,  I  remarked, 
was  used  by  the  Bechuanas  to  warn  one  another  on 
various  occasions.  In  spooring  game  it  was  in- 
variably practiced;  and  when  a  line  of  men  were 
thridding  the  mazes  of  the  forest,  each  warned  the 
man  behind  him  of  any  rough  sticks,  stones,  or 
thorns  which  lay  across  the  path,  by  the  same  ele- 
gant and  friendly  gesture. 

We  resumed  the  spoor  at  a  rapid  pace,  with  a 
widely-extended  front,  and  presently  on  my  left  I 
heard  the  joyous  signal  of  the  presence,  "  Klow  "; 
and,  cantering  in  that  direction,  I  came  full  in 
sight  of  an  enormous  bull  elephant,  marching  along 
at  a  free  majestic  pace,  and  in  another  minute  I 
was  riding  by  his  side.  The  horse  which  I  bestrode 
on  this  occasion  was  "  The  Cow,"  one  of  my  best 
and  steadiest  shooting-horses ;  and  the  forest  being 
tolerably  suited  for  the  sport,  I  was  not  long  in 
finishing  the  elephant.  I  fired  thirteen  bullets  at 
his  head  and  shoulder;  on  receiving  the  last  two 
shots  sharp  right  and  left  behind  the  shoulder,  he 
made  a  rapid  charge,  and  disappeared  among  the 
trees.  Cautiously  following,  I  discovered  him 
lying  in  an  upright  position,  with  his  two  fore  legs 
stretched  out  before  him.  Fancying  he  was  still 


166  THE  LION  HUNTER 

alive,  I  fired  both  barrels  at  his  ear;  but,  though 
the  balls  rang  loudly  on  his  venerable  head,  the 
noble  elephant  heeded  not  their  force;  his  ancient 
spirit  had  departed. 

This  was  a  very  large  old  elephant ;  but  his  tusks 
were  much  destroyed,  being  worn  down,  and  having 
been  broken  (probably  in  rocky  ground)  in  former 
years.  Mutchuisho  appeared  in  the  highest  glee, 
and  dispatched  messengers  through  the  gorge  in 
the  mountains,  the  name  of  which  is  Sabie,  to  ad- 
vise Sicomy  of  the  death  of  the  elephant.  The 
chase  had  led  me  to  within  rifle-range  of  the  three 
veteran  acacias  I  admired  in  the  morning.  I  made 
my  bower  and  a  couch  of  grass  beneath  a  shady 
wait-a-bit  thorn-tree,  and  encircled  my  fire  with 
a  hedge  of  the  same  description.  .  .  . 

I  had  at  length  got  into  the  way  of  making  my- 
self tolerably  comfortable  in  the  field,  and  from 
this  date  I  seldom  went  in  quest  of  elephants  with- 
out the  following  impedimenta,  viz.,  a  large  blan- 
ket, which  I  folded  and  secured  before  my  saddle, 
as  a  dragoon  does  his  cloak ;  and  two  leather  sacks, 
containing  a  flannel  shirt,  warm  trousers,  and  a 
woollen  night-cap,  spare  ammunition,  washing-rod, 
coffee,  bread,  sugar,  pepper  and  salt,  dried  meat, 
a  wooden  bowl,  and  a  tea-spoon.  These  sacks  were 
carried  on  the  shoulders  of  the  natives,  for  which 
service  I  remunerated  them  with  beads.  They  also 


ELEPHANTS  167 

carried  my  coffee-kettle,  two  calabashes  of  water, 
two  American  axes,  and  two  sickles,  which  I  used 
every  evening  to  cut  grass  for  my  bed,  and  likewise 
for  my  horses  to  eat  throughout  the  night. 

My  after-rider  carried  extra  ammunition  and  a 
spare  rifle,  and  my  own  personal  appointments 
consisted  of  a  wide-awake  hat,  secured  under  my 
chin  by  "  rheimpies,"  or  strips  of  dressed  skin,  a 
coarse  linenby  shirt,  sometimes  a  kilt,  and  some- 
times a  pair  of  buckskin  knee-breeches,  and  a  pair 
of  "  veldt-schoens,"  or  home-made  shoes.  I  en- 
tirely discarded  coat,  waistcoat,  and  neck-cloth, 
and  I  always  hunted  with  my  arms  bare.  My  heels 
were  armed  with  a  pair  of  powerful  persuaders, 
and  from  my  left  wrist  depended  by  a  double 
rheimpy  an  equally  persuasive  sea-cow  jambok. 

Around  my  waist  I  wore  two  leathern  belts  or 
girdles.  The  smaller  of  these  discharged  the  duty 
of  suspenders,  and  from  it  on  my  left  side  depended 
a  plaited  rheimpy,  eight  inches  in  length,  forming 
a  loop,  in  which  dangled  my  powerful  loading-rod, 
formed  of  a  solid  piece  of  horn  of  the  rhinoceros. 
The  larger  girdle  was  my  shooting-belt:  this  was 
a  broad  leather  belt,  on  which  were  fastened  four 
separate  compartments  made  of  otter-skin,  with 
flaps  to  button  over  of  the  same  material.  The 
first  of  these  held  my  percussion  caps,  the  second 
a  large  powder-f.ask,  the  third  and  fourth,  which 


168  THE  LION  HUNTER 

had  divisions  in  them,  contained  balls  and  patches, 
two  sharp  clasp-knives,  a  compass,  flint  and  steel. 

In  this  belt  I  also  carried  a  loading  mallet, 
formed  from  the  horn  of  the  rhinoceros ;  this  and 
the  powder-flask  were  each  secured  to  the  belt  by 
long  rheimpies,  to  prevent  my  losing  them.  Last, 
but  not  least,  in  my  right  hand  I  usually  carried 
my  double-barreled  two-grooved  rifle,  which  was 
my  favorite  weapon.  This,  however,  I  subse- 
quently made  up  my  mind,  is  not  the  proper  tool 
for  a  mounted  man,  especially  when  quick  loading 
is  necessary. 

I  remember  having  a  discussion  with  the  com- 
manding officer  of  a  regiment  of  heavy  dragoons 
on  this  subject,  and  he  and  I  agreed  that  nothing 
can  surpass  a  double-barreled  smooth  bore  for 
practical  utility.  When  a  two-grooved  rifle  has 
been  once  or  twice  discharged,  the  bullet  requires 
considerable  power  to  drive  it  home;  and  to  a 
mounted  man  this  is  extremely  inconvenient.  I 
consider  that  no  regiment  in  the  service  was  more 
effectually  armed  than  my  own  old  corps,  the  Cape 
Mounted  Rifles,  who  were  furnished  with  short 
double-barreled  smooth-bored  pieces,  carrying  a 
ball  of  twelve  to  the  pound,  and  having  stout  per- 
cussion locks.  Give  me  a  weapon  of  this  descrip- 
tion to  war  against  the  larger  game  of  Africa. 
To  accelerate  loading,  the  hunter  ought  to  have  his 


ELEPHANTS  169 

balls  stitched  up  in  their  patches,  and  well  greased 
before  taking  the  field.  This  was  my  invariable 
custom:  I  found  it  a  great  convenience,  and  after 
a  little  practice  I  could  load  and  fire  in  the  saddle, 
although  riding  in  rough  ground  at  a  swinging 
gallop.  .  .  . 

I  remained  at  Sabie,  hunting  elephant  and  rhi- 
noceros with  various  success,  till  the  morning  of 
the  22d  of  August,  when  I  inspanned,  and  marched 
for  Mangmaluky,  which  we  reached  at  sundown, 
and  I  drew  up  my  wagons  in  an  open  grassy  glade 
on  a  rather  elevated  position,  commanding  a  fine 
view  of  the  bold  outline  of  the  surrounding  moun- 
tains. On  the  march  I  shot  a  white  rhinoceros  in 
the  act  of  charging  down  a  rock  face,  with  all  the 
dogs  in  full  pursuit  of  him.  The  ball  disabled 
him  in  the  shoulder,  when,  pitching  upon  his  head, 
he  described  the  most  tremendous  somersault,  com- 
ing down  among  the  stones  and  bushes  with  the 
overwhelming  violence  of  an  avalanche. 

On  the  27th  I  cast  loose  my  horses  at  earliest 
dawn  of  day,  and  then  lay  half  asleep  for  two 
hours,  when  I  arose  to  consume  coffee  and  rhi- 
noceros. Having  breakfasted,  I  started  with  a 
party  of  the  natives  to  search  for  elephants  in  a 
southerly  direction.  We  held  along  the  gravelly 
bed  of  a  periodical  river,  in  which  were  abundance 
of  holes  excavated  by  the  elephants  in  quest  of 


170  THE  LION  HUNTER 

water.  Here  the  spoor  of  rhinceros  was  extremely 
plentiful,  and  in  every  hole  where  they  had  drunk 
the  print  of  the  horn  was  visible.  We  soon  found 
the  spoor  of  an  old  bull  elephant,  which  led  us  into 
a  dense  forest,  where  the  ground  was  particularly 
unfavorable  for  spooring;  we,  however,  thridded  it 
out  for  a  considerable  distance,  when  it  joined  the 
spoor  of  other  bulls.  The  natives  now  requested 
me  to  halt,  while  men  went  off  in  different  direc- 
tions to  reconnoiter. 

In  the  mean  time  a  tremendous  conflagration  was 
roaring  and  crackling  close  to  windward  of  us.  It 
was  caused  by  the  Bakalahari  burning  the  old  dry 
grass  to  enable  the  young  to  spring  up  with  greater 
facility,  whereby  they  retained  the  game  in  their 
dominions.  The  fire  stretched  away  for  many 
miles  on  either  side  of  us,  darkening  the  forests  far 
to  leeward  with  a  dense  and  impenetrable  canopy  of 
smoke.  Here  we  remained  for  about  half  an  hour, 
when  one  of  the  men  returned,  reporting  that  he 
had  discovered  elephants.  This  I  could  scarcely 
credit,  for  I  fancied  that  the  extensive  fire  which 
raged  so  fearfully  must  have  driven,  not  only  ele- 
phants, but  every  living  creature  out  of  the  dis- 
trict. The  native,  however,  pointed  to  his  eye,  re- 
peating the  word  "  Klow,"  and  signed  to  me  to 
follow  him. 

My  guide  led  me  about  a  mile  through  dense 


ELEPHANTS  171 

forest,  when  we  reached  a  little  well-wooded  hill,  to 
whose  summit  we  ascended,  whence  a  view  might 
have  been  obtained  of  the  surrounding  country, 
had  not  volumes  of  smoke  obscured  the  scenery  far 
and  wide,  as  though  issuing  from  the  funnels  of  a 
thousand  steam-boats.  Here,  to  my  astonishment, 
my  guide  halted,  and  pointed  to  the  thicket  close 
beneath  me,  when  I  instantly  perceived  the  colossal 
backs  of  a  herd  of  bull  elephants.  There  they 
stood,  quietly  browsing  on  the  lee  side  of  the  hill, 
while  the  fire  in  its  might  was  raging  to  windward 
within  two  hundred  yards  of  them. 

I  directed  Johannus  to  choose  an  elephant,  and 
promised  to  reward  him  should  he  prove  successful. 
Galloping  furiously  down  the  hill,  I  started  the 
elephants  with  an  unearthly  yell,  and  instantly  se- 
lected the  finest  bull  in  the  herd.  Placing  myself 
alongside,  I  fired  both  barrels  behind  his  shoulder, 
when  he  instantly  turned  upon  me,  and  in  his  im- 
petuous career  charged  head  foremost  into  a  large 
bushy  tree,  which  he  sent  flying  before  him  high 
in  the  air  with  tremendous  force,  coming  down  at 
the  same  moment  violently  on  his  knees.  He  then 
met  the  raging  fire,  when,  altering  his  course^  he 
wheeled  to  the  right-about.  As  I  galloped  after 
him  I  perceived  another  noble  elephant  meeting  us 
in  an  opposite  direction,  and  presently  the  gallant 
Johannus  hove  in  sight,  following  his  quarry  at  a 


respectful  distance.  Both  elephants  held  on  to- 
gether ;  so  I  shouted  to  Johannus,  "  I  will  give  your 
elephant  a  shot  in  the  shoulder,  and  you  must  try 
to  finish  him."  Spurring  my  horse,  I  rode  close 
alongside,  and  gave  the  fresh  elephant  two  balls 
immediately  behind  the  shoulder,  when  he  parted 
from  mine,  Johannus  following;  but  before  many 
minutes  had  elapsed  that  mighty  Nimrod  reap- 
peared, having  fired  one  shot  and  lost  his  prey. 

In  the  mean  time  I  was  loading  and  firing  as  fast 
as  could  be,  sometimes  at  the  head,  and  sometimes 
behind  the  shoulder,  until  my  elephant's  fore  quar- 
ters were  a  mass  of  gore,  notwithstanding  which 
he  continued  to  hold  stoutly  on,  leaving  the  grass 
and  branches  of  the  forest  scarlet  in  his  wake. 

On  one  occasion  he  endeavored  to  escape  by 
charging  desperately  amid  the  thickest  of  the 
flames ;  but  this  did  not  avail,  and  I  was  soon  once 
more  alongside.  I  blazed  away  at  this  elephant 
until  I  began  to  think  that  he  was  proof  against  my 
weapons.  Having  fired  thirty-five  rounds  with  my 
two-grooved  rifle,  I  opened  fire  upon  him  with  the 
Dutch  six-pounder;  and  when  forty  bullets  had 
perforated  his  hide,  he  began  for  the  first  time  to 
evince  signs  of  a  dilapidated  constitution.  He 
took  up  a  position  in  a  grove ;  and  as  the  dogs  kept 
barking  round  him,  he  backed  stern  foremost 
among  the  trees,  which  yielded  before  his  gigantic 


ELEPHANTS  173 

strength.  Poor  old  fellow!  he  had  long  braved 
my  deadly  shafts,  but  I  plainly  saw  that  it  was  now 
all  over  with  him;  so  I  resolved  to  expend  no  fur- 
ther ammunition,  but  hold  him  in  view  until  he 
died.  Throughout  the  chase  this  elephant  repeat- 
edly cooled  his  person  with  large  quantities  of 
water,  which  he  ejected  from  his  trunk  over  his 
back  and  sides;  and  just  as  the  pangs  of  death 
came  over  him,  he  stood  trembling  violently  beside 
a  thorny  tree,  and  kept  pouring  water  into  his 
bloody  mouth  until  he  died,  when  he  pitched  heavily 
forward,  with  the  whole  weight  of  his  fore  quarters 
resting  on  the  points  of  his  tusks. 

A  most  singular  occurrence  now  took  place.  He 
lay  in  this  posture  for  several  seconds;  but  the 
amazing  pressure  of  the  carcass  was  more  than  the 
head  was  able  to  support.  He  had  fallen  with  his 
head  so  short  under  him  that  the  tusks  received  lit- 
tle assistance  from  his  legs.  Something  must  give 
way.  The  strain  on  the  mighty  tusks  was  fair; 
they  did  not,  therefore,  yield;  but  the  portion  of 
his  head  in  which  the  tusk  was  imbedded,  extending 
a  long  way  above  the  eye,  yielded  and  burst  with 
a  muffled  crash.  The  tusk  was  thus  free,  and 
turned  right  round  in  his  head,  so  that  a  man  could 
draw  it  out,  and  the  carcass  fell  over  and  rested  on 
its  side.  This  was  a  very  first-rate  elephant,  and 
the  tusks  he  carried  were  long  and  perfect.  .  .  . 


174.  THE  LION  HUNTER 

On  the  31st  I  held  southeast  in  quest  of  ele- 
phants, with  a  large  party  of  the  natives.  Our 
course  lay  through  an  open  part  of  the  forest, 
where  I  beheld  a  troop  of  springboks  and  two 
ostriches,  the  first  I  had  seen  for  a  long  time.  We 
held  for  Towannie,  a  strong  fountain  in  the  grav- 
elly bed  of  a  periodical  river:  here  two  herds  of 
cow  elephants  had  drunk  on  the  preceding  evening, 
but  I  declined  to  follow  them ;  and  presently,  at  a 
muddy  fountain  a  little  in  advance,  we  took  up  the 
spoor  of  an  enormous  bull,  which  had  wallowed  in 
the  mud,  and  then  plastered  the  sides  of  several  of 
the  adjacent  veteran-looking  trees.  We  followed 
the  spoor  through  level  forest  in  an  easterly  direc- 
tion, when  the  leading  party  overran  the  spoor, 
and  casts  were  made  for  its  recovery. 

Presently  I  detected  an  excited  native  beckoning 
violently  a  little  to  my  left,  and,  cantering  up  to 
him,  he  said  that  he  had  seen  the  elephant.  He  led 
me  through  the  forest  a  few  hundred  yards,  when, 
clearing  a  wait-a-bit,  I  came  full  in  view  of  the 
tallest  and  largest  bull  elephant  I  had  ever  seen. 
He  stood  broadside  to  me,  at  upward  of  one  hun- 
dred yards,  and  his  attention  at  the  moment  was 
occupied  with  the  dogs,  which,  unaware  of  his 
proximity,  were  rushing  past  him,  while  the  old 
fellow  seemed  to  gaze  at  their  unwonted  appearance 
with  surprise. 


ELEPHANTS  175 

Halting  my  horse,  I  fired  at  his  shoulder,  and 
secured  him  with  a  single  shot.  The  ball  caught 
him  high  upon  the  shoulder-blade,  rendering  him 
instantly  dead  lame;  and  before  the  echo  of  the 
bullet  could  reach  my  ear,  I  plainly  saw  that  the 
elephant  was  mine.  The  dogs  now  came  up  and 
barked  around  him,  but,  finding  himself  incapaci- 
tated, the  old  fellow  seemed  determined  to  take  it 
easy,  and,  limping  slowly  to  a  neighboring  tree,  he 
remained  stationary,  eyeing  his  pursuers  with  a  re- 
signed and  philosophic  air. 

I  resolved  to  devote  a  short  time  to  the  contem- 
plation of  this  noble  elephant  before  I  should  lay 
him  low ;  accordingly,  having  off-saddled  the  horses 
beneath  a  shady  tree  which  was  to  be  my  quarters 
for  the  night  and  ensuing  day,  I  quickly  kindled  a 
fire  and  put  on  the  kettle,  and  in  a  very  few  minutes 
my  coffee  was  prepared.  There  I  sat  in  my  forest 
home,  coolly  sipping  my  coffee,  with  one  of  the 
finest  elephants  in  Africa  awaiting  my  pleasure  be- 
side a  neighboring  tree. 

It  was,  indeed,  a  striking  scene ;  and  as  I  gazed 
upon  the  stupendous  veteran  of  the  forest,  I 
thought  of  the  red  deer  which  I  loved  to  follow  in 
my  native  land,  and  felt  that,  though  the  Fates  had 
driven  me  to  follow  a  more  daring  and  arduous 
avocation  in  a  distant  land,  it  was  a  good  exchange 
which  I  had  made,  for  I  was  now  a  chief  over  bound- 


176  THE  LION  HUNTER 

less  forests,  which  yielded  unspeakably  more  noble 
and  exciting  sport. 

Having  admired  the  elephant  for  a  considerable 
time,  I  resolved  to  make  experiments  for  vulner- 
able points,  and,  approaching  very  near,  I  fired 
several  bullets  at  different  parts  of  his  enormous 
skull.  These  did  not  seem  to  affect  him  in  the 
slightest;  he  only  acknowledged  the  shots  by  a 
"  salaam-like  "  movement  of  his  trunk,  with  the 
point  of  which  he  gently  touched  the  wound  with  a 
striking  and  peculiar  action.  Surprised  and 
shocked  to  find  that  I  was  only  tormenting  and 
prolonging  the  sufferings  of  the  noble  beast,  which 
bore  his  trials  with  such  dignified  composure,  I  re- 
solved to  finish  the  proceeding  with  all  possible 
dispatch ;  accordingly,  I  opened  fire  upon  him  from 
the  left  side,  aiming  behind  the  shoulder ;  but  even 
there  it  was  long  before  my  bullets  seemed  to  take 
effect.  I  first  fired  six  shots  with  the  two-grooved, 
which  must  have  eventually  proved  mortal,  but  as 
yet  he  evinced  no  visible  distress;  after  which  I 
fired  three  shots  at  the  same  part  with  the  Dutch 
six-pounder.  Large  tears  now  trickled  from  his 
eyes,  which  he  slowly  shut  and  opened ;  his  colossal 
frame  quivered  convulsively,  and,  falling  on  his 
side,  he  expired.  The  tusks  of  this  elephant  were 
beautifully  arched,  and  were  the  heaviest  I  had  yet 
met  with,  averaging  ninety  pounds  weight  apiece. 


ELEPHANTS  177 

On  the  1st  of  September —  so  full  of  interest  to 
the  British  Nimrod  —  we  saddled  our  steeds  and 
steered  our  course  for  Mangmaluky.  .  .  . 


CHAPTER  VI 

ELEPHANTS 

IN  the  afternoon  of  the  4th  I  was  engaged  for 
many  hours  combating  with  a  vicious  ele- 
phant, which  I  finished  with  thirty-five  bullets 
in  the  shoulder,  in  an  impracticable  jungle  of  wait- 
a-bit  thorns.  The  conflict  was  greatly  prolonged 
by  "  The  Immense  Brute,"  which  capered  con- 
tinually, and  constantly  destroyed  the  correctness 
of  my  aim.  While  I  was  fighting  with  this  ele- 
phant, my  dogs  were  combating  with  a  younger 
bull,  which  they  hunted  backward  and  forward  in 
the  same  thicket  with  myself.  This  elephant  took 
up  a  position  beside  the  one  which  had  fallen,  and 
the  dogs  continued  barking  around  him. 

My  rifle  being  now  extremely  dirty,  I  experi- 
enced considerable  difficulty  in  ramming  home  the 
balls,  notwithstanding  the  power  of  my  rhinoceros- 
horn  loading-rod.  This  being  accomplished,  I  ran 
cautiously  within  twenty  yards  of  this  second  ele- 
phant, and,  resting  my  rifle  on  a  branch,  aimed  for 
his  heart  and  pressed  the  trigger.  Alas!  it  was 

for  the  last  time.     The  barrel  burst  with  a  terrific 

178 


ELEPHANTS  179 

explosion,  sending  the  locks  and  half  the  stock 
flying  right  and  left,  and  very  nearly  sending  me 
to  "  the  land  of  the  leal."  I,  however,  received  no 
further  damage  than  a  slight  burn  on  my  left  arm, 
and  the  loss  for  many  days  of  the  use  of  my  left 
ear,  a  fragment  of  the  barrel  having  whizzed  close 
past  it.  At  first  I  was  so  stunned  that  I  knew  not 
if  I  were  wounded  or  not,  and  on  recovering  from 
the  shock  my  person  underwent  a  strict  scrutiny. 
Before  I  discovered  these  elephants  I  was  faint 
from  thirst,  and  quite  done  up  with  the  power  of 
the  sun,  owing  to  which  I  considered  that  I  did 
not  attack  the  elephant  so  bravely  as  I  might  oth- 
erwise have  done. 

The  loss  of  my  trusty  two-grooved  rifle,  in  such 
a  remote  corner  of  the  world,  was  irreparable,  and 
cut  me  to  the  heart.  It  was  my  main  stay ;  and  as 
I  thought  of  the  many  services  it  had  performed 
for  me  in  the  hour  of  need,  I  mourned  over  it  as 
David  mourned  for  Absalom. 

On  the  evening  of  the  7th  I  returned  to  Mangma- 
luky  under  a  burning  sun,  which  continued  oppres- 
sive throughout  the  day.  Having  lost  my  two- 
grooved  rifle,  I  resolved  to  try  what  could  be  done 
with  the  double-barreled  Moore  and  Purdey  rifles, 
carrying  sixteen  to  the  pound,  and  I  accordingly 
set  about  casting  hardened  bullets  to  suit  them. 
For  this  purpose  I  had  brought  in  with  me  a  quan- 


180  THE  LION  HUNTER 

tity  of  solder,  but  I  now  had  the  mortification  to 
discover  that  all  that  I  had  possessed  of  this  im- 
portant article  had  mysteriously  vanished  by  some 
underhand  transaction  between  my  followers  and 
Sicomy.  I  was  thus  reduced  to  the  extremity  of 
melting  the  contents  of  my  old  military  canteen  to 
harden  the  bullets ;  and  upon  overhauling  it,  I  as- 
certained that  the  tray  of  the  snuffers,  the  spoons, 
candlesticks,  tea-pots,  and  two  drinking-cups,  were 
admirably  suited  for  this  purpose,  and  I  accord- 
ingly sentenced  them  to  undergo  the  fiery  ordeal 
of  the  ladle. 

In  the  evening  I  had  much  pleasure  to  behold 
my  old  friend  Mutchuisho  walk  into  my  camp,  fol- 
lowed by  a  numerous  party  of  the  natives.  He 
seemed  glad  to  see  me,  and  we  at  once  arranged  to 
make  an  expedition  to  the  eastward  on  the  follow- 
ing day.  Accordingly,  on  the  morning  of  the  9th 
I  took  the  field  with  Johannus  and  Mutchuisho, 
and  about  eighty  men,  and  proceeded  in  a  south- 
easterly direction.  We  continued  our  course  till 
the  sun  went  down  without  finding  fresh  spoor, 
when  we  halted  for  the  night  to  leeward  of  a  foun- 
tain, where  we  hoped  that  elephants  would  come 
to  drink.  The  heat  throughout  the  day  had  been 
most  oppressive,  the  dense  level  forest  rendering 
it  still  more  insupportable. 

On  the  morrow  we  cast  loose  the  horses  to  graze 


JL  a  101 

long  before  the  dawn  of  day.  No  elephants  had 
visited  the  fountain;  so,  after  an  early  breakfast, 
we  saddled  up,  and  again  held  on  in  an  easterly  di- 
rection through  boundless  forests,  till  I  found  my- 
self in  a  country  which  I  had  not  hitherto  visited. 
Passing  along  beneath  a  rocky  hillock,  we  started 
a  detachment  of  hideous  hyaenas,  which  sought  shel- 
ter from  the  sun  beneath  the  shadow  of  the  rocks. 
We  passed  several  large  herds  of  lovely  camelo- 
pards,  and  I  also  obtained  two  very  deadly  chances 
of  rhinoceros,  both  fine  old  bulls  ;  but  knowing  well 
from  past  experience  that  my  policy  was  to  keep 
my  followers  hungry,  I  refrained  from  firing  a  sin- 
gle shot. 

In  the  afternoon  we  reached  a  small  vley,  where 
five  first-rate  bull  elephants  had  drunk  on  the  pre- 
ceding evening.  Here  my  followers  all  sat  down 
and  rested  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  a  wild  duck 
swimming  fearlessly  beside  us.  We  then  took  up 
the  spoor,  but,  as  it  was  late  in  the  day,  I  had  not 
the  slightest  expectation  of  success,  and  was  so 
done  up  with  the  power  of  the  sun  that  I  felt  it 
irksome  to  sit  in  the  saddle.  The  spoor  led  east, 
right  away  from  camp,  but  the  elephants  seemed 
to  have  proceeded  slowly,  having  extended  widely 
from  one  another,  and  rent  and  uprooted  an  amaz- 
ing number  of  goodly  trees.  Presently  the  spoor 
took  a  turn  to  our  left,  when  I  grieved  to  remark 


182  THE  LION  HUNTER 

that  we  were  following  it  down  the  wind;  thus  we 
eventually  started  the  elephants,  which  were  feed- 
ing in  the  forest  at  no  great  distance,  but,  owing 
to  a  check  among  the  trackers,  we  were  not  aware 
of  this  until  the  elephants  had  gained  a  consider- 
able start. 

On  finding  that  they  were  gone,  Johannus  and  I 
went  off  on  the  spoor  at  a  rapid  pace,  but  I  had 
not  the  slightest  expectation  of  overtaking  them; 
for  it  was  so  late  that,  even  if  I  had  already  com- 
menced the  attack,  the  chances  were  that  before  I 
could  finish  one  the  night  would  have  set  in.  It  is 
much  easier  to  hold  the  spoor  of  a  herd  of  elephants 
that  have  been  alarmed  than  to  follow  those  which 
have  been  undisturbed,  since  the  former  adopt  a 
decided  course,  and  follow  one  another  in  a  direct 
line.  Thus  we  were  enabled  to  hold  the  spoor  at  a 
gallop  without  a  check  until  our  horses  began  to 
evince  distress;  and,  despairing  of  success,  I  was 
just  going  to  pull  up,  when  I  heard  Johannus  ex- 
claim, "  Sir,  sir,  dar  stand  ilia,"  and,  looking  be- 
fore me,  I  beheld  five  enormous  old  bull  elephants 
walking  slowly  along.  They  seemed  heated  by  the 
pace  at  which  they  had  retreated,  and  were  now 
refreshing  themselves  with  large  volumes  of  water, 
which  nature  enables  them  to  discharge  from  their 
capacious  stomachs,  and  shower  back  upon  their 
bodies  with  their  extraordinary  trunks. 


ELEPHANTS  183 

I  overtook  these  elephants  in  open  ground,  which 
enabled  me  at  once  to  make  a  fine  selection.  I  had 
never  before  obtained  so  satisfactory  a  view  of  a 
herd  of  bulls:  they  really  looked  wondrous  vast. 
It  is  a  heart-stirring  sight  to  behold  one  bull  ele- 
phant ;  but  when  five  gigantic  old  fellows  are  walk- 
ing slowly  along  before  you,  and  you  feel  that  you 
can  ride  up  and  vanquish  whichever  one  you  fancy, 
it  is  so  overpoweringly  exciting  that  it  almost  takes 
a  man's  breath  away ;  but  it  was  now  too  late  in  the 
day  to  part  with  my  breath  for  a  single  moment. 
Johannus  whispered  to  me  to  wait  a  little,  to  allow 
the  horses  to  recover  their  wind ;  but  Wolf  dashing 
in  upon  them,  I  was  obliged  to  follow  to  obtain  an 
accurate  selection  of  the  tusks.  Spurring  my 
horse,  in  another  moment  I  was  in  the  middle  of 
them,  closely  followed  by  Johannus ;  and  in  a 
twinkling  the  finest  bull  had  received  the  contents 
of  the  Moore  and  Purdey  behind  the  shoulder. 

I  was  now  joined  by  Wolf,  who  rendered  me  im- 
portant service  by  considerably  engrossing  the  at- 
tention of  the  elephant,  running  barking  before  him 
as  he  charged.  I  was  in  a  precious  hurry,  as  the 
sun  was  setting,  and  I  kept  loading  and  firing  at 
dueling  distance.  On  receiving  the  twenty-fourth 
shot  he  stood  trembling  violently  for  several  sec- 
onds, and  then  fell  heavily  forward  on  his  tusks, 
after  which  he  rolled  over  and  rested  on  his  side. 


184  THE  LION  HUNTER 

I  reckoned  this  to  be  a  fortunate  conclusion  after 
the  hard  and  toilsome  day  I  had  spent  under  the 
power  of  a  scorching  sun.  Mutchuisho  and  the 
natives  soon  made  their  appearance,  all  in  won- 
drous good  humor  at  our  success. 

The  nearest  water  to  this  elephant  was  in  a  vley 
situated  several  miles  to  the  eastward;  and  when 
the  natives  had  constructed  a  number  of  water-bags 
of  the  under  skin  of  the  elephant,  a  watering  party 
was  dispatched  with  these  and  a  number  of  cala- 
bashes which  they  always  carried  along  with  them. 
This  party  rejoined  us  at  the  hour  of  midnight, 
and  reported  that  while  they  were  filling  their 
water-bags  at  one  side  of  the  vley,  a  troop  of  bull 
elephants  were  drinking  at  the  other.  Accord- 
ingly, on  the  morrow  I  went  in  quest  of  these,  ac- 
companied by  Mutchuisho  and  a  small  party,  and 
on  the  second  day  came  up  with  them  and  bagged 
an  old  bull,  whose  tusks  were  the  stoutest  I  had 
ever  seen. 

On  the  morrow  I  cast  loose  the  steeds  at  earliest 
dawn,  and  soon  after  we  heard  the  hoarse  cry  of 
an  elephant  within  half  a  mile  of  us.  I  permitted 
my  horses  to  graze  while  the  dew  was  on  the  grass, 
after  which,  along  with  the  dogs,  I  sent  them  to 
water  with  a  party  of  Bakalahari  at  a  fountain  re- 
ported three  miles  distant,  and  in  the  mean  time 
I  regaled  myself  with  coffee  and  rhinoceros. 


ELEPHANTS  185 

It  is  extraordinary  how  soon  the  mind  accustoms 
itself  to  everything,  good  or  bad.  There  I  sat 
taking  my  breakfast,  with  a  troop  of  princely  ele- 
phants feeding  within  a  few  minutes'  ride  of  me, 
with  as  much  indifference  as  if  I  were  going  wood- 
cock shooting.  I  certainly  did  not  feel  half  so 
anxious  about  the  matter  as  I  usually  did  when 
taking  my  breakfast  on  a  fine  May  morning,  with 
a  southerly  wind,  before  starting  to  fish  my  native 
river.  This  indifference  was  probably  owing  to 
the  reduced  state  of  my  system  from  improper  diet 
and  constant  toil.  .  .  . 

Having  so  far  succeeded  in  the  object  of  my  ex- 
pedition, and  both  my  wagons  being  now  heavily 
laden  with  the  tusks  of  elephants  and  a  large  col- 
lection of  the  spoils  of  the  chase,  with  a  number  of 
other  interesting  curiosities,  I  at  length  resolved 
once  more  to  turn  my  face  toward  the  distant 
dwellings  of  my  countrymen.  On  the  23d  of  Sep- 
tember, however,  although  harassed  in  my  mind, 
and  fearing  to  lose  all  my  horses  if  I  did  not 
speedily  forsake  the  country,  I  yielded  to  my  incli- 
nation, and  the  persuasions  of  Mutchuisho,  once 
more  to  take  the  field,  and  follow  the  spoor  of  two 
bull  elephants,  reported  to  have  visited  a  distant 
fountain.  Before  starting  I  gave  Johannus  my 
phlegme,  and  a  hasty  lesson  in  the  art  of  bleeding, 
with  instructions  to  bleed  copiously  any  of  my  stud 


186  THE  LION  HUNTER 

evincing  the  slightest  symptoms  of  distemper.  We 
held  an  easterly  course,  and  at  sundown  on  the  sec- 
ond day  I  bagged  a  white  rhinoceros  and  a  fine 
old  bull  elephant,  beside  whose  carcass  I  bivouacked 
as  usual.  On  the  forenoon  of  the  25th  I  saddled 
up  and  held  for  camp,  accompanied  by  only  one 
attendant. 

It  was  a  glorious  day,  with  a  cloudy  sky,  and  the 
wind  blew  fresh  off  the  Southern  Ocean.  Having 
ridden  some  miles  in  a  northerly  direction,  we 
crossed  the  broad  and  gravelly  bed  of  a  periodical 
river,  in  which  were  abundance  of  holes  excavated 
by  the  elephants,  containing  delicious  water. 
Having  passed  the  river,  we  entered  an  extensive 
grove  of  picturesque  cameeldorn  trees,  clad  in 
young  foliage  of  the  most  delicious  green.  On 
gaining  a  gentle  eminence  about  a  mile  beyond  this 
grove,  I  looked  forth  upon  an  extensive  hollow, 
where  I  beheld  for  the  first  time  for  many  days  a 
fine  old  cock  ostrich,  which  quickly  observed  us  and 
flashed  away  to  our  left. 

I  had  ceased  to  devote  my  attention  to  the 
ostrich,  and  was  straining  my  eyes  in  an  opposite 
direction,  when  Kleinboy  called  out  to  me,  "  Dar 
loup  de  ould  carle  " ;  and  turning  my  eyes  to  the 
retreating  ostrich,  I  beheld  two  first-rate  old  bull 
elephants,  charging  along  at  their  utmost  speed 
within  a  hundred  yards  of  it.  They  seemed  at  first 


ELEPHANTS  187 

to  be  in  great  alarm,  but,  quickly  discovering  what 
it  was  that  had  caused  their  confusion,  they  at 
once  reduced  their  pace  to  a  slow  and  stately  walk. 
This  was  a  fine  look-out ;  the  country  appeared  to 
be  favorable  for  an  attack,  and  I  was  followed  by 
Wolf  and  Bonteberg,  both  tried  and  serviceable 
dogs  with  elephants.  Owing  to  the  pace  at  which 
I  had  been  riding,  both  dogs  and  horses  were  out 
of  breath,  so  I  resolved  not  to  attack  the  elephants 
immediately,  but  to  follow  slowly,  holding  them 
in  view. 

The  elephants  were  proceeding  right  up  the 
wind,  and  the  distance  between  us  was  about  five 
hundred  yards.  I  advanced  quietly  toward  them, 
and  had  proceeded  about  half  way,  when,  casting 
my  eyes  to  my  right,  I  beheld  a  whole  herd  of  tear- 
ing bull  elephants  standing  thick  together  on  a 
wooded  eminence  within  three  hundred  yards  of  me. 
These  elephants  were  almost  to  leeward.  Now 
the  correct  thing  to  do  was  to  slay  the  best  in  each 
troop,  which  I  accomplished  in  the  following  man- 
ner: I  gave  the  large  herd  my  wind,  upon  which 
they  instantly  tossed  their  trunks  aloft,  "  a  moment 
snuffed  the  tainted  gale,"  and,  wheeling  about, 
charged  right  down  wind,  crashing  through  the 
jungle  in  dire  alarm.  My  object  now  was  to  en- 
deavor to  select  the  finest  bull,  and  hunt  him  to  a 
distance  from  the  other  troop,  before  I  should  com- 


188  THE  LION   HUINiiill 

mence  to  play  upon  his  hide.  Stirring  my  steed,  I 
galloped  forward.  Right  in  my  path  stood  two 
rhinoceroses  of  the  white  variety,  and  to  these  the 
dogs  instantly  gave  chase.  I  followed  in  the  wake 
of  the  retreating  elephants,  tracing  their  course  by 
the  red  dust  which  they  raised  and  left  in  clouds 
behind  them. 

Presently  emerging  into  an  open  glade,  I  came 
full  in  sight  of  the  mighty  game;  it  was  a  truly 
glorious  sight;  there  were  nine  or  ten  of  them, 
which  were,  with  one  exception,  full-grown,  first- 
rate  bulls,  and  all  of  them  carried  very  long,  heavy, 
and  perfect  tusks.  Their  first  panic  being  over, 
they  had  reduced  their  pace  to  a  free,  majestic 
walk,  and  they  followed  one  leader  in  a  long  line, 
exhibiting  an  appearance  so  grand  and  striking 
that  any  description,  however  brilliant,  must  fail 
to  convey  to  the  mind  of  the  reader  an  adequate 
idea  of  the  reality.  Increasing  my  pace,  I  shot 
alongside,  at  the  same  time  riding  well  out  from  the 
elephants,  the  better  to  obtain  an  inspection  of 
their  tusks.  It  was  a  difficult  matter  to  decide 
which  of  them  I  should  select,  for  every  elephant 
seemed  better  than  his  neighbor;  but,  on  account 
of  the  extraordinary  size  and  beauty  of  his  tusks, 
I  eventually  pitched  upon  a  patriarchal  bull, 
which,  as  is  usual  with  the  heaviest,  brought  up  the 
rear.  I  presently  separated  him  from  his  com- 


ELEPHANTS  189 

rades,  and  endeavored  to  drive  him  in  a  northerly 
direction. 

There  is  a  peculiar  art  in  driving  an  elephant  in 
the  particular  course  which  you  may  fancy,  and, 
simple  as  it  may  seem,  it  nevertheless  requires  the 
hunter  to  have  a  tolerable  idea  of  what  he  is  about. 
It  is  widely  different  from  driving  in  an  eland, 
which  also  requires  judicious  riding:  if  you  ap- 
proach too  near  your  elephant  or  shout  to  him,  a 
furious  charge  will  certainly  ensue,  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  if  you  give  him  too  wide  a  berth,  the 
chances  are  that  you  will  lose  him  in  the  jungle, 
which,  notwithstanding  his  size,  is  a  very  simple 
matter,  and,  if  once  lost  sight  of,  it  is  more  than 
an  even  bet  that  the  hunter  will  never  again  obtain 
a  glimpse  of  him.  The  ground  being  favorable, 
Kleinboy  called  to  me  to  commence  firing,  remark- 
ing very  prudently  that  he  was  probably  making 
for  some  jungle  of  wait-a-bits,  where  we  might 
eventually  lose  him.  I  continued,  however,  to  re- 
serve my  fire  until  I  had  hunted  him  to  what  I  con- 
sidered to  be  a  safe  distance  from  the  two  old  fel- 
lows which  we  had  first  discovered. 

At  length  closing  with  him,  I  dared  him  to 
charge,  which  he  instantly  did  in  fine  style,  and  as 
he  pulled  up  in  his  career  I  yelled  to  him  a  note  of 
bold  defiance,  and,  cantering  alongside,  again  de- 
fied him  to  the  combat.  It  was  thus  the  fight 


190  THE  LION  HUNTER 

began,  and,  the  ground  being  still  favorable,  I 
opened  a  sharp  fire  upon  him,  and  in  about  a  quar- 
ter of  an  hour  twelve  of  my  bullets  were  lodged  in 
his  fore  quarters.  He  now  evinced  strong  symp- 
toms of  approaching  dissolution,  and  stood  catch- 
ing up  the  dust  with  the  point  of  his  trunk  and 
throwing  it  in  clouds  above  and  around  him.  At 
such  a  moment  it  is  extremely  dangerous  to  ap- 
proach an  elephant  on  foot,  for  I  have  remarked 
that,  although  nearly  dead,  he  can  muster  strength 
to  make  a  charge  with  great  impetuosity. 

Being  anxious  to  finish  him,  I  dismounted  from 
my  steed,  and,  availing  myself  of  the  cover  of  a 
gigantic  nwana-tree,  whose  diameter  was  not  less 
than  ten  feet,  I  ran  up  within  twenty  yards,  and 
gave  it  him  sharp  right  and  left  behind  the  shoul- 
der. These  two  shots  wound  up  the  proceeding; 
on  receiving  them,  he  backed  stern  foremost  into 
the  cover,  and  then  walked  slowly  away.  I  had 
loaded  my  rifle,  and  was  putting  on  the  caps,  when 
I  heard  him  fall  over  heavily ;  but,  alas !  the  sound 
was  accompanied  by  a  sharp  crack,  which  I  too 
well  knew  denoted  the  destruction  of  one  of  his 
lovely  tusks ;  and,  on  running  forward,  I  found  him 
lying  dead,  with  the  tusk,  which  lay  under,  snapped 
through  the  middle. 

I  did  not  tarry  long  for  an  inspection  of  the 
elephant,  but,  mounting  my  horse,  at  once  set  off  to 


ELEPHANTS  191 

,   j 
follow  on  the  spoor  of  the  two  old  fellows  which  the" 

ostrich  had  alarmed.  Fortunately,  I  fell  in  with 
a  party  of  natives,  who  were  on  their  way  to  the 
wagons  with  the  impedimenta,  and,  assisted  by 
these,  I  had  sanguine  hopes  of  shortly  overtaking 
the  noble  quarry.  We  had  not  gone  far  when  two 
wild  boars,  with  enormous  tusks,  stood  within 
thirty  yards  of  me,  but  this  was  no  time  to  fire,  and 
a  little  after  a  pair  of  white  rhinoceroses  stood 
directly  in  our  path.  Casting  my  eyes  to  the 
right,  I  beheld  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of 
me  a  herd  of  eight  or  ten  cow  elephants,  with 
calves,  peacefully  browsing  on  a  sparely-wooded 
knoll. 

The  spoor  we  followed  led  due  south,  and  the 
wind  was  as  fair  as  it  could  blow.  We  passed  be- 
tween the  twin-looking,  abrupt,  pyramidal  hills, 
composed  of  huge  disjointed  blocks  of  granite, 
which  lay  piled  above  each  other  in  grand  con- 
fusion. To  the  summit  of  one  of  these  I  ascended 
with  a  native,  but  the  forest  in  advance  was  so 
impenetrable  that  we  could  see  nothing  of  the  game 
we  sought.  Descending  from  the  hillock,  we  re-' 
sumed  the  spoor,  and  were  enabled  to  follow  at  a 
rapid  pace,  the  native  who  led  the  spooring  party 
being  the  best  tracker  in  Bamangwato.  I  had 
presently  very  great  satisfaction  to  perceive  that 
the  elephants  had  not  been  alarmed,  their  course 


192  THE  UON  HUNTER 

being  strewed  with  branches  which  they  had  chewed 
as  they  slowly  fed  along. 

The  trackers  now  became  extremely  excited,  and 
strained  their  eyes  on  every  side  in  the  momentary 
expectation  of  beholding  the  elephants.  At 
,  length  we  emerged  into  an  open  glade,  and,  clearing 
a  grove  of  thorny  mimosas,  we  came  full  in  sight 
of  one  of  them.  Cautiously  advancing,  and  look- 
ing to  my  right,  I  next  discovered  his  comrade, 
standing  in  a  thicket  of  low  wait-a-bits,  within  a 
hundred  and  fifty  yards  of  me;  they  were  both 
first-rate  old  bulls,  with  enormous  tusks  of  great 
length.  I  dismounted,  and  warily  approached  the 
second  elephant  for  a  closer  inspection  of  his  tusks. 
As  I  drew  near  he  slightly  turned  his  head,  and 
I  then  perceived  that  his  further  one  was  damaged 
toward  the  point,  while  at  the  same  instant  his 
comrade,  raising  his  head  clear  of  the  bush  on 
which  he  browsed,  displayed  to  my  delighted  eyes 
a  pair  of  the  most  beautiful  and  perfect  tusks  I 
had  ever  seen. 

Regaining  my  horse,  I  advanced  toward  this  ele- 
phant, and  when  within  forty  yards  of  him  he 
•walked  slowly  on  before  me  in  an  open  space,  his 
liuge  ears  gently  flapping,  and  entirely  concealing 
me  from  his  view.  Inclining  to  the  left,  I  slightly 
increased  my  pace,  and  walked  past  him  within 
sixty  yards,  upon  which  he  observed  me  for  the 


ELEPHANTS  193 

first  time ;  but  probably  mistaking  "  Sunday  "  for 
a  hartebeest,  he  continued  his  course  with  his  eye 
upon  me,  but  showed  no  symptoms  of  alarm.  The 
natives  had  requested  me  to  endeavor,  if  possible, 
to  hunt  him  toward  the  water,  which  lay  in  a  north- 
erly direction,  and  this  I  resolved  to  do.  Having 
advanced  a  little,  I  gave  him  my  wind,  when  he 
was  instantly  alarmed  and  backed  into  the  bushes, 
holding  his  head  high  and  right  to  me.  Thus  he 
stood  motionless  as  a  statue,  under  the  impression, 
probably,  that,  owing  to  his  Lilliputian  dimensions, 
I  had  failed  to  observe  him,  and  fancying  that  I 
would  pass  on  without  detecting  him. 

I  rode  slowly  on,  and  described  a  semicircle  to 
obtain  a  shot  at  his  shoulder,  and,  halting  my  horse, 
fired  from  the  saddle;  he  got  it  in  the  shoulder- 
blade,  and,  as  slowly  and  silently  I  continued  my 
course,  he  still  stood  gazing  at  me  in  utter  aston- 
ishment. Bill  and  Flam  were  now  slipped  by  the 
natives,  and  in  another  moment  they  were  barking 
around  him.  I  shouted  loudly  to  encourage  the 
dogs  and  perplex  the  elephant,  who  seemed  puzzled 
to  know  what  to  think  of  us,  and,  shrilly  trumpet- 
ing, charged  headlong  after  the  dogs.  Retreating, 
he  backed  into  the  thicket,  then  charged  once  more, 
and  made  clean  away,  holding  the  course  I  wanted. 

When  I  tried  to  fire,  "  Sunday "  was  very 
fidgety,  and  destroyed  the  correctness  of  my  aim. 


194  THE  LION  HUNTER 

Approaching  the  elephant,  I  presently  dismounted, 
and,  running  in,  gave  him  two  fine  shots  behind  the 
shoulder;  then  the  dogs,  which  were  both  indiffer- 
ent ones,  ran  barking  at  him.  The  consequence 
was  a  terrific  charge,  the  dogs  at  once  making  for 
their  master,  and  bringing  the  elephant  right  upon 
me.  I  had  no  time  to  gain  my  saddle,  but  ran  for 
my  life.  The  dogs,  fortunately,  took  after  "  Sun- 
day," who,  alarmed  by  the  trumpeting,  dashed 
frantically  away,  though  in  the  heat  of  the  affray 
I  could  not  help  laughing  to  remark  horse,  dogs, 
and  elephant  all  charging  along  in  a  direct  line. 

The  dogs,  having  missed  their  master,  held  away 
for  Kleinboy,  who  had  long  disappeared  I  knew  not 
whither.  "  Sunday  "  stood  still,  and  commenced 
to  graze,  while  the  elephant,  slowly  passing  within 
a  few  yards  of  him,  assumed  a  position  under  a 
tree  beside  him.  Kleinboy  presently  making  his 
appearance,  I  called  to  him  to  ride  in  and  bring 
me  my  steed;  but  he  refused,  and  asked  me  if  I 
wished  him  to  go  headlong  to  destruction.  "  Sun- 
day "  having  fed  slowly  away  from  the  elephant, 
I  went  up  and  he  allowed  me  to  recapture  him. 

I  now  plainly  saw  that  the  elephant  was  dying, 
but  I  continued  firing  to  hasten  his  demise.  To- 
ward the  end  he  took  up  a  position  in  a  dense 
thorny  thicket,  where  for  a  long  time  he  remained. 
Approaching  within  twelve  paces,  I  fired  my  last 


ELEPHANTS  195 

two  shots,  aiming  at  his  left  side,  close  behind  the 
shoulder.  On  receiving  these  he  backed  slowly 
through  the  thicket,  and,  clearing  it,  walked  gently 
forward  about  twenty  yards,  when  he  suddenly 
came  down  with  tremendous  violence  right  on  his 
broadside.  To  my  intense  mortification,  the  heavy 
fall  was  accompanied  by  a  loud,  sharp  crack,  and 
on  going  up  I  found  one  of  his  matchless  tusks 
broken  short  off  by  the  lip.  This  was  a  glorious 
day's  sport:  I  had  bagged  in  one  afternoon  prob- 
ably the  two  finest  bull  elephants  in  Bamangwato, 
and,  had  it  not  been  for  the  destruction  of  their 
noble  trophies,  which  were  the  two  finest  pair  of 
tusks  I  had  obtained  that  season,  my  triumph  on 
the  occasion  had  been  great  and  unalloyed.  .  .  . 

[The  rainy  season  now  set  in.  On  the  12th  of 
October,  Gumming  bade  farewell  to  the  land  of  ele- 
phants and  started  on  his  return  trip.  Ten  days 
later  he  was  deserted  by  all  of  his  colonial  servants 
except  Ruyter,  the  little  Bushman.  He  had  four 
savages  from  Bamangwato,  but  they  knew  nothing 
of  driving  and  handling  draught  animals.  There 
were  twenty-four  oxen  to  the  two  wagons,  and  nine 
saddle  horses,  to  manage.  The  wagons  stuck  and 
broke  down.  After  a  fruitless  search  for  the  run- 
away Hottentots,  Gumming  patched  up  his  caravan 
as  best  he  could,  and  trekked  onward. 

A  dense  forest  was  encountered,  through  which 


196  THE  LION  HUNTER 

the  hunter  had  to  hew  a  way  for  his  wagons.  Pro- 
ceeding at  a  snail's  pace  southward  with  his  pre- 
cious cargo,  he  reached  Dr.  Livingstone's  mission- 
ary station  on  the  20th  of  November,  and  finished 
his  journey  at  Colesberg  on  the  26th  of  January, 
1845,  after  an  absence  of  eleven  months. 

"  My  costume,"  he  says,  "  consisted  of  a  dilapi- 
dated wide-awake  hat,  which  had  run  the  gauntlet 
with  many  a  grove  of  wait-a-bits,  a  dusty-looking 
ragged  shirt,  and  a  pair  of  still  more  ragged-look- 
ing canvas  trousers,  which  were,  moreover,  ampu- 
tated above  the  knee,  while  my  face  was  adorned 
with  a  shaggy  red  beard,  which  tout  ensemble  im- 
parted to  me  the  appearance  of  one  escaped  from 
Bedlam.  As  I  drew  near  a  farm,  its  inmates  took 
fright  at  my  wild  appearance,  and  two  of  the 
Boers,  timidly  projecting  their  heads  from  the 
half-closed  door,  loudly  shouted  to  me  to  lay  down 
my  gun.  I,  however,  pretended  not  to  understand, 
and,  advancing  boldly,  I  wished  them  good  morn- 
ing. 

"  One  of  these  was  the  owner  of  the  farm,  and 
the  man  from  whom  I  had  bought  the  dogs,  yet 
nevertheless  he  failed  to  recognize  me.  He  still 
appeared  to  be  much  alarmed,  and  evidently  looked 
upon  me  as  a  dangerous  character;  but,  commis- 
erating the  transparent  texture  of  my  continu- 
ations, he  offered  to  lend  me  a  pair  of  leather 


ELEPHANTS  197 

*  crackers.'     Declining   the   proffered   apparel,   I 
entered  the  house  without  ceremony,  and  having 
come  to  an  anchor  I  requested  some  milk.     Here 
I  was  immediately  recognized  by  the  children  as 

*  de  carle  wha  heb  vor  Bonteberg  ha-quoch,'  viz., 
the  man  that  bought  Bonteberg." —  Ed.~[ 


CHAPTER  VII 

ELEPHANTS LIONS RHINOCEROS BUFFALOES 

I   CONTINUED  in  Grahamstown  until  the  7th 
day  of  March,  when  I  set  out  once  more  on 
my  weary  journey  for  the  distant  forests 
of  the  far  interior.     Before  leaving  the  town  I  set- 
tled my  accounts  with  the  merchants  from  whom  I 
had  obtained  supplies,  and  who  evidently  seemed  to 
consider  my  returning  to  the  colony  as  a  very 
doubtful  event. 

I  engaged  a  discharged  soldier  of  the  91st, 
named  George  Martin,  in  the  capacity  of  head 
servant.  This  man  hailed  from  Haddington,  and 
bore  an  excellent  character  on  leaving  the  regi- 
ment. He  was  accustomed  to  the  charge  of  horses, 
in  which  he  took  a  great  interest. 

My  most  important  purchases  in  the  sporting 
department  consisted  of  a  valuable  double-barreled 
rifle,  with  spare  shot-barrels  by  Westley  Richards, 
which  I  obtained  from  Captain  Hogg,  and  two 
right  good  steeds,  one  of  which  was  a  very  superior 
coal-black  gelding,  which  I  purchased  of  Captain 
Walpole,  of  the  Engineers,  for  £20,  which  was  con- 
siderably below  its  value.  I  named  this  horse 

198 


ELEPHANTS  —  LIONS  —  BUFFALOES    199 

Black  Jack ;  in  paces  and  disposition  he  very  much 
resembled  my  lamented  Colesberg,  and  he  was  alto- 
gether one  of  the  finest  horses  I  ever  mounted. 
His  end  was  sudden  and  severe ;  for  on  a  subsequent 
expedition,  along  with  another  of  my  favorite 
horses,  he  was  torn  to  pieces  and  consumed  by  a 
troop  of  ruthless  lions.  The  other  horse  which  I 
purchased  was  a  gray;  and  as  it  is  probable  that 
this  horse  may  be  introduced  in  future  pages,  un- 
der the  designation  of  the  "  Old  Gray,"  I  trust 
the  reader  will  not  be  confounded  with  the  idea  of 
the  resurrection  of  the  original  "  Old  Gray." 

On  the  morning  of  the  9th  I  reached  Fort  Beau- 
fort, when  I  encamped  at  the  mess-house  of  the 
7th.  I  continued  there  until  the  morning  of  the 
15th,  when  I  resumed  my  march  for  the  interior. 
In  Fort  Beaufort  I  purchased  four  right  good 
horses  from  the  officers  of  the  garrison :  one  of  these 
was  a  jet  black  steed,  and  was  named  by  his  late 
master  Schwartland.  This  horse  was  one  of  the 
finest  shooting-horses  in  Southern  Africa,  and  un- 
derstood his  work  so  well  that  he  seemed  to  follow 
the  game  with  all  the  eagerness  of  a  greyhound, 
and  yet  he  would  suddenly  halt  in  full  career  when 
I  wished  to  fire,  if  I  merely  placed  my  hand  upon 
his  neck.  From  his  back  I  subsequently  shot  many 
elephants  and  other  game,  and  his  name  will  often 
appear  in  after  pages.  At  the  farm  of  Messrs. 


200  THE  LION  HUNTER 

Nelson  and  Blane  I  purchased  two  more  horses, 
which  I  called  Brown  Jock  and  Mazeppa,  and  also 
a  span  of  oxen  and  some  milch  cows. 

On  the  2d  of  April  I  entered  the  village  of  Coles- 
berg,  where  I  was  actively  employed  in  making 
final  preparations  for  my  distant  campaign  until 
the  9th.  I  engaged  two  Hottentot  servants  named 
Booi  and  Kleinfeldt,  the  latter  individual  being  one 
of  those  who  had  forsaken  my  banner  at  Bootlo- 
namy,  and  I  purchased  two  more  valuable  steeds, 
which  increased  my  stud  to  ten  very  superior  young 
horses.  I  also  purchased  a  number  of  rough,  long- 
legged  serviceable  dogs,  of  a  variety  of  breeds, 
which,  with  several  other  ragged-looking  tykes  that 
I  subsequently  purchased  from  Boers  along  the  line 
of  march,  increased  my  kennel  to  about  twenty 
business-like  dogs. 

At  sunrise  on  the  9th  we  marched  out  of  the  vil- 
lage and  held  on  until  we  reached  the  Orange  River 
at  Boata's  Drift,  where  we  outspanned  beneath 
the  shade  of  a  grove  of  willows.  Having  crossed 
the  river  on  horseback,  it  proved  too  deep  to  take 
the  wagons  over,  but  I  had  the  consolation  to  re- 
mark that  the  waters  were  on  the  ebb,  and  by  the 
forenoon  of  the  following  day  they  had  so  far  sub- 
sided that  I  was  enabled  to  cross  the  great  river 
without  wetting  my  cargo.  The  ascension  of  the 
opposite  side  proved  extremely  severe,  being  an  al- 


ELEPHANTS  —  LIONS  —  BUFFALOES    201 

most  perpendicular  bank  of  soft  sand,  and  I  was 
obliged  to  relieve  the  wagon  of  half  its  load  before 
the  oxen  could  drag  it  to  the  more  practicable  road 
beyond. 

I  was  now  all  anxiety  to  reach  my  Fountain  of 
Elephants,  and  pushed  on  with  all  speed  for  Mas- 
.souey.  On  the  15th,  just  as  I  had  reached  the 
Bastard  kraal  of  Rhama,  I  fell  in  with  my  old 
servant  Carollus,  who  had  absconded  from  me  at 
Bootlonamy.  He  was  in  company  with  the  wagons 
belonging  to  Mr.  David  Hume,  the  trader,  on  their 
return  to  the  colony,  but,  meeting  with  his  old  com- 
panions Kleinfeldt  and  Kleinboy,  he  resolved  to 
turn  about  and  re-enter  my  service,  which  I  was 
not  sorry  for,  as  I  was  short  of  hands  for  the  dis- 
tant expedition  I  was  about  to  make.  I  also  fell 
in  with  Captain  Arkwright  and  Mr.  Christie,  who 
were  proceeding  up  the  country  on  a  similar  expe- 
dition to  my  own. 

On  the  16th  of  May  I  halted  at  Chouaney,  at 
the  residence  of  Dr.  Livingstone,  who  told  me  that 
one  or  two  troops  of  elephants  had  been  frequent- 
ing the  district.  With  one  of  these  I  fell  in  on 
the  20th,  when  I  had  an  opportunity  of  testing  the 
sportsmanlike  qualities  of  my  new  servant  Martin. 
The  troop  consisted  of  nine  bull  elephants,  the 
finest  of  which  I  shot,  but  Martin,  after  selecting 
the  poorest  of  the  lot,  ultimately  lost  him.  We 


202  THE  LION  HUNTER 

now  pressed  on  as  rapidly  as  possible  for  my  favor- 
ite fountain  Massouey,  which  we  at  length  reached 
on  the  29th. 

I  felt  sincere  pleasure  in  revisiting  this  very  in- 
teresting spot.  I  found  it  well  frequented  by  the 
elephants.  Two  troops  of  cows  and  three  old  bulls 
had  drunk  there  on  the  preceding  night.  When 
the  wagons  came  up  to  my  old  halting-place,  I  took 
a  hasty  breakfast,  and  then  started  on  the  spoor 
of  an  enormous  old  bull.  After  following  him 
north  for  about  six  miles,  we  lost  him  in  the  spoor 
of  a  troop  of  cows;  I  accordingly  followed  the 
spoor  of  the  cows,  and  soon  came  up  with  them. 
The  troop  consisted  in  all  of  about  ten,  but  there 
were  only  three  full-grown  cows  in  the  troop ;  each 
of  these  three,  unluckily,  went  off  in  different  di- 
rections. I  rode  within  twenty  yards  of  the  best, 
and,  halting,  put  two  balls  close  behind  her  shoul- 
der, and,  calling  to  Martin  to  finish  her,  galloped 
after  the  second  best.  I  soon  got  a  view  of  her, 
and  in  three  minutes  had  turned  her  head  toward 
camp,  and  presently  rolled  her  over  with  about  six 
shots.  Martin  and  the  Bushman  not  appearing 
when  two  hours  had  elapsed,  I  rode  to  camp,  where, 
to  my  astonishment,  I  found  my  servant,  who  had 
actually  lost  my  elephant  through  the  most  inex- 
cusable want  of  pluck.  I  was  very  much  annoyed, 
and  regretted  having  attacked  the  troop  at  all. 


ELEPHANTS  —  LIONS  —  BUFFALOES    203 

At  dawn  of  day  Molly  eon  and  I  walked  to  the 
fountain  to  seek  for  elephants'  spoor.  A  troop 
of  cows,  several  small  bulls,  and  two  well-grown 
bulls,  had  drunk  during  the  night,  besides  an  im- 
mense number  of  rhinoceroses,  perhaps  twenty.  I 
made  a  hasty  breakfast,  and  then  took  up  the  spoor 
of  the  two  best  bulls,  with  one  after-rider.  The 
spoor  led  nearly  southeast.  After  following  it  for 
about  six  miles,  we  found  ourselves  in  an  elevated 
part  of  the  forest,  which  commanded  a  fine  view  of 
the  mountains  to  the  east,  and  here  Mollyeon 
climbed  to  the  summit  of  a  sandal-wood  tree  to  try 
if  he  could  see  the  elephants.  He  could  not  see 
those  we  were  spooring ;  but  he  saw  three  other  bull 
elephants,  about  three  parts  grown,  feeding  slowly 
along,  steering  about  north ;  after  a  short  and  dan- 
gerous conflict,  I  slew  the  best  with  five  bullets. 

We  then  followed  up  the  spoor  of  one  of  our  first 
elephants,  which  had  now  taken  a  northerly  course. 
After  following  it  up  very  sharply  for  about  five 
miles  through  very  open  country,  we  reached  some 
dense  wait-a-bit  cover,  where  we  discovered  our 
friend  hiding  himself  within  twenty  yards  of  us. 
He  took  away  at  once  through  the  thickest  of  the 
cover,  and  on  my  approaching  for  a  shot  he  made 
the  most  terrific  charge  after  me,  sending  large 
thorny  trees  flying  like  grass  before  him.  When 
he  halted  after  this  charge,  I  sent  a  ball  through 


204  THE  LION  HUNTER 

his  ribs,  and  he  then  made  clean  away,  and  got  into 
better  country.  Here  I  fought  with  him  for  about 
an  hour,  and  gave  him  sixteen  shots  from  the  sad- 
dle. My  horse  was  extremely  troublesome,  and  in- 
variably destroyed  the  correctness  of  my  aim;  the 
elephant  was  fierce  and  active,  and  made  repeated 
charges  with  very  destructive  intentions ;  at  length 
he  turned  and  regained  the  dense  thorny  cover,  in 
which  I  lost  him. 

On  the  morning  of  June  1st,  before  the  sun  rose, 
Mollyeon  and  I  walked  to  the  fountain  to  see  if  ele- 
phants had  drunk.  Ten  bull  elephants  had  been 
there,  and  had  all  gone  off  together,  holding  a 
southeasterly  course ;  this  was  glorious.  I  started 
on  the  spoor  with  five  natives,  and  Kleinfeldt  as 
after-rider  on  Dreadnaught.  I  took  eight  of  my 
dogs,  all  led  in  strings,  and  rode  Schwartland,  my 
best  shooting-horse.  After  following  the  spoor  for 
about  five  miles,  we  found  ourselves  to  leeward  of 
the  elephant  I  had  shot  on  Saturday,  and  here  the 
elephants  had  smelled  the  blood,  and  started  off  in 
great  fear,  going  clean  away  through  open  coun- 
try, steering  one  point  west  of  south.  They  got 
into  an  old  elephant  foot-path,  and  held  steadily  on 
for  many  miles,  not  halting  to  break  one  branch  or 
to  plow  the  ground.  The  leading  native  said  he 
did  not  expect  to  see  them,  and  I  was  certainly  of 
the  same  opinion.  At  length  they  got  into  a 


ELEPHANTS  — LIONS  — BUFFALOES    205 

thickly-wooded  part  of  the  country,  and  although 
they  were  still  holding  clean  away  up  wind,  they 
had  occasionally  halted  to  feed.  Here  I  started 
an  oryx.  We  presently  reached  the  border  of  a 
very  wide  open  country,  where  the  spoor  took  a 
turn  to  the  east.  We  proceeded  a  few  hundred 
yards  further,  when  we  had  the  unexpected  satis- 
faction to  behold  the  mighty  squadron  drawn  up 
in  the  open  cover,  in  open  order,  two  hundred  yards 
^head.  Some  of  them  stood  motionless  as  statues, 
others  moved  slowly  here  and  there,  and  browsed 
upon  the  trees. 

The  troop  consisted  of  ten  bull  elephants :  eight 
of  them  were  about  three  parts  grown;  the  other 
two  were  enormous  old  elephants,  in  magnificent 
condition.  We  halted  and  gave  the  dogs  water, 
and  I  then  rode  slowly  round  the  elephants  to  as- 
certain which  was  the  best.  After  riding  twice 
along  their  front,  they  all,  as  if  by  one  accord, 
turned  their  faces  to  me,  and  advanced  leisurely 
within  forty  yards,  giving  me  an  excellent  oppor- 
tunity of  making  my  choice.  At  length  they  saw 
me,  and,  sounding  the  alarm,  all  made  off  together 
in  great  consternation.  I  galloped  alongside  of 
them  to  make  my  final  choice,  and  selected  the 
largest  elephant.  I  had  some  difficulty  in  getting 
him  clear  of  his  comrades,  some  of  which  were  ex- 
tremely fierce,  and  were  trumpeting  along,  with 


206  THE  LION  HUNTER 

their  tails  and  trunks  aloft.  At  length  I  got  him 
clear;  all  my  dogs  had  gone  off  to  the  right  and 
left  after  other  elephants,  and  Dreadnaught  came 
galloping  up  to  me,  having  thrown  my  after-rider,, 
who  did  not  succeed  in  recapturing  him. 

My  elephant  now,  hearing  the  barking  and 
trumpeting  on  every  side,  halted  beside  a  bushy 
tree,  with  his  head  high,  and  right  to  me;  but, 
presently  turning  his  broadside,  I  gave  it  him  sharp 
right  and  left  after  the  shoulder;  and  the  dogs, 
hearing  the  shots,  came  up  to  my  assistance.  The 
conflict  now  became  fast  and  furious ;  I  had  very 
pleasant  work  with  this  fine  old  elephant.  My 
horse  behaved  very  well,  andT;he  elephant's  fury 
and  attention  were  chiefly  directed  toward  the  dogs, 
who  stuck  well  to  him;  but  he  was  by  far  the 
toughest  elephant  to  finish  that  I  have  ever  en- 
gaged with.  I  gave  him  thirty-five  balls,  all  about 
and  behind  his  shoulder,  and  discharged  at  dis- 
tances varying  from  fifteen  to  thirty-five  yards,  be- 
fore he  would  halt  and  die.  At  length  he  reduced 
his  pace  to  a  very  slow  walk;  blood  flowed  from 
his  trunk  and  all  his  wounds,  leaving  the  ground 
behind  him  a  mass  of  gore;  his  frame  shuddered 
violently,  his  mouth  opened  and  shut,  his  lips  quiv- 
ered, his  eyes  were  filled  with  tears ;  he  halted  be- 
side a  thorny  tree,  and,  having  turned  right  about, 
he  rocked  forward  and  backward  for  a  few  sec- 


ELEPHANTS  — LIONS  — BUFFALOES    207 

onds,  and,  falling  heavily  over,  his  ancient  spirit 
fled.  The  natives  now  came  up,  and,  having  prom- 
ised to  go  on  the  spoor  of  my  horse  Dreadnaught, 
I  returned  to  Massouey,  having  off-saddled  for  an 
hour.  .  .  . 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  3d  of  September  I 
watched  the  fountain.  Toward  sunset  one  blue 
wildebeest,  six  zebras,  and  a  large  herd  of  pallahs 
were  all  drinking  before  me.  I  lay  enjoying  con- 
templation for  at  least  fifteen  minutes,  and,  most 
of  them  having  then  slaked  their  thirst,  I  sent  a 
ball  through  the  heart  of  the  best  headed  pallah. 
I  then  took  a  long  shot  at  the  blue  wildebeest  bull, 
and  sent  the  other  ball  into  his  shoulder. 

I  now  came  to  the  camp,  and  ordered  the  pallah 
to  be  placed  in  front  of  my  hole  beside  the  water, 
to  attract  the  lions.  Having  taken  my  coffee,  I 
returned  to  the  water  with  Kleinboy  and  Molly- 
eon.  It  was  bright  moonlight.  We  had  scarcely 
lain  down  when  the  terrible  voice  of  a  lion  was 
heard  a  little  to  the  east;  the  jackals  were  feasting 
over  the  remains  of  the  white  rhinoceros  of  yester- 
day, and  only  one  or  two  occasionally  came  and 
snuffed  at  the  pallah.  Presently  a  herd  of  zebras, 
accompanied  by  elands,  approached  the  water,  but 
were  too  timid  to  come  in  and  drink:  a  troop  of 
wild  dogs  now  came  boldly  up,  and  were  walking 
off  with  the  pallah,  when  I  fired  into  them.  They 


208  THE  LION  HUNTER 

made  off,  but  immediately  returning  and  again 
seizing  my  pallah,  I  fired  again,  and  wounded  one 
of  them. 

Soon  after  we  had  lain  down  a  thundering  clat- 
tering of  hoofs  was  heard  coming  up  the  vley,  and 
on  came  an  immense  herd  of  blue  wildebeest.  They 
were  very  thirsty,  and  the  leading  cow  very  soon 
came  boldly  up  and  drank  before  me.  I  sent  a 
ball  through  her;  she  ran  sixty  yards  up  the 
slope  behind  me,  and  fell  dead.  Her  comrades 
then  thundered  across  the  vley,  and  took  up  a  po- 
sition on  the  opposite  rising  ground.  In  two  min- 
utes the  hyaenas  and  jackals  had  attacked  the  car- 
cass of  this  wildebeest.  Soon  after  this  a  lion 
gave  a  most  appalling  roar  on  the  bushy  height 
close  opposite  to  us,  which  was  succeeded  by  a 
death-like  stillness  which  lasted  for  nearly  a  min- 
ute. I  had  then  only  one  shot  in  my  four  bar- 
rels, and  I  hastily  loaded  the  other  barrel  of  my 
Westley  Richards,  and  with  breathless  attention 
kept  the  strictest  watch  in  front,  expecting  every 
moment  to  see  the  mighty  and  terrible  king  of 
beasts  approaching;  but  he  was  too  cunning.  He 
saw  all  the  other  game  fight  shy  of  the  water,  so 
he  made  a  circuit  to  leeward  to  get  the  wind  off 
the  fountain.  Soon  after  he  roared  I  heard  a  num- 
ber of  jackals  bothering  him,  as  if  telling  him  to 
come  across  the  vley  to  the  wildebeest :  he  growled 


ELEPHANTS  — LIONS  — BUFFALOES    209 

from  side  to  side,  as  if  playing  with  them,  and 
after  this  all  was  still. 

I  had  listened  with  intense  anxiety  for  about  fif- 
teen minutes  longer,  when  I  heard  the  hyaenas  and 
jackals  give  way  on  either  side  behind  me  from 
the  carcass  of  the  wildebeest,  and,  turning  my 
head  slowly  round,  beheld  a  huge  and  majestic  lion, 
with  a  black  mane  which  nearly  swept  the  ground, 
standing  over  the  carcass.  He  seemed  aware  of 
my  proximity,  and,  lowering  his  head,  at  once  laid 
hold  of  the  wildebeest  and  dragged  it  some  dis- 
tance up  the  hill.  He  then  halted  to  take  breath, 
but  did  not  expose  a  broadside,  and  in  a  quarter  of 
a  minute  he  again  laid  hold  of  the  wildebeest  and 
dragged  it  about  twelve  yards  further  toward  the 
cover,  when  he  again  raised  his  noble  head  and 
halted  to  take  breath. 

I  had  not  an  instant  to  lose;  he  stood  with  his 
right  side  exposed  to  me  in  a  very  slanting  posi- 
tion ;  I  stretched  my  left  arm  across  the  grass,  and, 
taking  him  rather  low,  fired:  the  ball  took  effect, 
and  the  lion  sank  to  the  shot.  All  was  still  as 
death  for  many  seconds,  when  he  uttered  a  deep 
growl,  and,  slowly  gaining  his  feet,  limped  toward 
the  cover,  roaring  mournfully  as  he  went.  When 
he  got  into  the  thorny  bushes  he  stumbled  through 
them  as  he  moved  along,  and  in  half  a  minute  I 
heard  him  halt  and  growl  fearfully,  as  if  dying. 


210  THE  LION  HUNTER 

I  had  now  every  reason  to  believe  that  he  was 
either  dead  or  would  die  immediately,  and  if  I  did 
not  seek  him  till  the  morning  I  knew  very  well  that 
the  hyaenas  and  jackals  would  destroy  him.  I  ac- 
cordingly went  up  to  camp,  and,  having  saddled 
two  horses,  I  and  Martin  rode  to  seek  him,  taking 
all  the  dogs,  led  in  strings  by  the  natives.  On 
reaching  the  carcass  of  the  wildebeest  we  slipped 
the  dogs,  and  they  went  off  after  the  hyaenas  and 
jackals:  we  listened  in  vain  for  the  deep  growl  of 
the  lion,  but  I  was  persuaded  that  he  was  dead, 
and  rode  forward  to  the  spot  where  I  had  last 
heard  him  growl.  Lassie,  now  coming  up,  com- 
menced barking  at  a  bush  in  front  of  me,  and,  rid- 
ing round,  I  had  the  immense  satisfaction  to  behold 
the  most  magnificent  old  black-maned  lion  stretched 
out  before  me. 

The  ball  had  entered  his  belly  a  little  before  the 
flank,  and  traversed  the  length  and  breadth  of  his 
body,  crippling  him  in  the  opposite  shoulder.  No 
description  could  give  a  correct  idea  of  the  sur- 
passing beauty  of  this  most  majestic  animal,  as 
he  lay  still  warm  before  me.  I  lighted  a  fire  and 
gazed  with  delight  upon  his  lovely  mane,  his  mas- 
sive arms,  his  sharp  yellow  nails,  his  hard  and  ter- 
rible head,  his  immense  and  powerful  teeth,  his 
perfect  beauty  and  symmetry  throughout;  and  I 
felt  that  I  had  won  the  noblest  prize  that  this  wide 


ELEPHANTS  — LIONS  — BUFFALOES 

world  could  yield  to  a  sportsman.  Having  about 
fifteen  natives  with  me,  I  sent  for  rheims  and  the 
lechter-uit,  and  we  bore  the  lion  to  camp. 

On  my  way  from  the  water  to  get  the  horses 
and  dogs,  I  shot  an  extremely  old  bull  black  rhi- 
noceros with  a  single  ball :  he  dropped  to  the  shot. 
His  horns  were  quite  worn  down  and  amalgamated, 
resembling  the  stump  of  an  old  oak-tree. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  4th  I  deepened  my  hole 
and  watched  the  water.  As  the  sun  went  down 
two  graceful  springboks  and  a  herd  of  pallahs  came 
and  drank,  when  I  shot  the  best  pallah  in  the  troop. 
At  night  I  watched  the  water  with  Kleinboy :  very 
soon  a  black  cow  rhinoceros  came  and  drank,  and 
got  off  for  the  present  with  two  balls  in  her.  A 
little  afterward  two  black  rhinoceroses  and  two 
white  ones  came  to  the  water  side.  We  both  fired 
together  at  the  finest  of  the  two  black  rhinoceroses ; 
she  ran  three  hundred  yards  and  fell  dead.  Soon 
after  this  thp  other  black  rhinoceros  came  up  again 
and  stood  at  the  water  side;  I  gave  her  one  ball 
after  the  shoulder;  she  ran  &  hundred  yards  and 
fell  dead.  In  half  an  hour  a  third  old  borele  ap- 
peared, and,  having  inspected  the  two  dead  oi?es, 
came  up  to  the  water  side.  We  fired  together; 
he  ran  two  hundred  yards  and  fell  dead.  I  felt 
satisfied  with  our  success,  and  gave  it  up  for  the 
night. 


212  THE  LION  HUNTER 

By  the  following  evening  the  natives  had  cleared 
away  the  greater  part  of  two  of  the  rhinoceroses, 
which  lay  right  in  the  way  of  the  game  approach- 
ing the  water;  I,  however,  enforced  their  leaving 
the  third  rhinoceros,  which  had  fallen  on  the  bare 
rising  ground,  almost  opposite  to  my  hiding-place, 
in  the  hope  of  attracting  a  lion,  as  I  intended  to 
watch  the  water  at  night.  Soon  after  the  twilight 
had  died  away,  I  went  down  to  my  hole  with  Klein- 
boy  and  two  natives,  who  lay  concealed  in  another 
hole,  with  Wolf  and  Boxer  ready  to  slip  in  the 
event  of  wounding  a  lion. 

On  reaching  the  water  I  looked  toward  the  car- 
cass of  the  rhinoceros,  and,  to  my  astonishment, 
beheld  the  ground  alive  with  large  creatures,  as 
though  a  troop  of  zebras  were  approaching  the 
fountain  to  drink.  Kleinboy  remarked  to  me  that 
a  troop  of  zebras  were  standing  on  the  height.  I 
answered  "  Yes  ;  "  but  I  knew  very  well  that  zebras 
would  not  be  capering  around  the  carcass  of  a 
rhinoceros.  I  quickly  arranged  my  blankets,  pil- 
low, and  guns  in  the  hole,  and  then  lay  down  to 
feast  my  eyes  on  the  interesting  sight  before  me. 
It  was  bright  moonlight,  as  clear  as  I  need  wish, 
and  within  one  night  of  being  full  moon. 

There  were  six  large  lions,  about  twelve  or  fif- 
teen hyaenas,  and  from  twenty  to  thirty  jackals, 
feasting  on  and  around  the  carcasses  of  the  three 


ELEPHANTS  —  LIONS  —  BUFFALOES    213 

rhinoceroses.  The  lions  feasted  peacefully,  but 
the  hyaenas  and  jackals  fought  over  every  mouth- 
fut,  and  chased  one  another  round  and  round  the 
carcasses,  growling,  laughing,  screeching,  chatter- 
ing, and  howling  without  any  intermission.  The 
hyaenas  did  not  seem  afraid  of  the  lions,  although 
they  always  gave  way  before  them;  for  I  observed 
that  they  followed  them  in  the  most  disrespectful 
manner,  and  stood  laughing,  one  or  two  on  either 
side,  when  any  lions  came  after  their  comrades  to 
examine  pieces  of  skin  or  bones  which  they  were 
dragging  away.  I  had  lain  watching  this  banquet 
for  about  three  hours,  in  the  strong  hope  that, 
when  the  lions  had  feasted,  they  would  come  and 
drink.  Two  black  and  two  white  rhinoceroses  had 
made  their  appearance,  but,  scared  by  the  smell 
of  the  blood,  they  had  made  off. 

At  length  the  lions  seemed  satisfied.  They  all 
walked  about  with  their  heads  up,  and  seemed  to 
be  thinking  about  the  water;  and  in  two  minutes 
one  of  them  turned  his  face  toward  me,  and  came 
on.  He  was  immediately  followed  by  a  second 
lion,  and  in  half  a  minute  by  the  remaining  four. 
It  was  a  decided  and  general  move;  they  were  all 
coming  to  drink  right  bang  in  my  face,  within  fif- 
teen yards  of  me. 

I  charged  the  unfortunate,  pale,  and  panting 
Kleinboy  to  convert  himself  into  a  stone,  and  know- 


214  THE  LION  HUNTER 

ing,  from  old  spoor,  exactly  where  they  would 
drink,  I  cocked  my  left  barrel,  and  placed  myself 
and  gun  in  position.  The  six  lions  came  steadily 
on  along  the  stony  ridge  until  within  sixty  yards 
of  me,  when  they  halted  for  a  minute  to  recon- 
noiter.  One  of  them  stretched  out  his  massive 
arms  on  the  rock  and  lay  down:  the  others  then 
came  on,  and  he  rose  and  brought  up  the  rear. 
They  walked,  as  I  had  anticipated,  to  the  old 
drinking-place,  and  three  of  them  had  put  down 
their  heads  and  were  lapping  the  water  loudly, 
when  Kleinboy  thought  it  necessary  to  shove  up 
his  ugly  head.  I  turned  my  head  slowly  to  re- 
buke him,  and,  again  turning  to  the  lions,  found 
myself  discovered. 

An  old  lioness,  who  seemed  to  take  the  lead,  had 
detected  me,  and,  with  her  head  high  and  her  eyes 
fixed  full  upon  me,  was  coming  slowly  round  the 
corner  of  the  little  vley  to  cultivate  further  my 
acquaintance!  This  unfortunate  coincidence  put 
a  stop  at  once  to  all  further  contemplation.  I 
thought,  in  my  haste,  that  it  was  perhaps  most 
prudent  to  shoot  this  lioness,  especially  as  none 
"*  of  the  others  had  noticed  me.  I  accordingly 
moved  my  arm  and  covered  her:  she  saw  me  move 
and  halted,  exposing  a  full  broadside.  I  fired ;  the 
ball  entered  one  shoulder  and  passed  out  behind 
the  other.  She  bounded  forward  with  repeated 


ELEPHANTS  —  LIONS  —  BUFFALOES    215 

growls,  and  was  followed  by  her  five  comrades,  all 
enveloped  in  a  cloud  of  dust;  nor  did  they  stop 
until  they  had  reached  the  cover  behind  me,  except 
one  old  gentleman,  who  halted  and  looked  back  for 
a  few  seconds,  when  I  fired,  but  the  ball  went  high. 

I  listened  anxiously  for  some  sound  to  denote 
the  approaching  end  of  the  lioness,  nor  listened 
in  vain.  I  heard  her  growling  and  stationary,  as 
if  dying.  In  one  minute  her  comrades  crossed  the 
vley  a  little  below  me,  and  made  toward  the  rhi- 
noceros. I  then  slipped  Wolf  and  Boxer  on  her 
scent,  and,  following  them  into  the  cover,  found 
her  lying  dead  within  twenty  yards  of  where  the 
old  lion  had  lain  two  nights  before.  This  was  a 
fine  old  lioness,  with  perfect  teeth,  and  was  cer- 
tainly a  noble  prize;  but  I  felt  dissatisfied  at  not 
having  rather  shot  a  lion,  which  I  had  most  cer- 
tainly done  if  my  Hottentot  had  not  destroyed  my 
contemplation. 

On  the  8th,  as  I  and  Kleinboy  watched  the  under 
water  about  midnight,  we  heard  a  black  rhinoceros 
blowing  beside  the  upper  water.  We  very  rashly 
walked  up  within  about  eighteen  yards  of  him,  with 
no  other  shelter  than  a  small  bush.  On  perceiving 
us,  the  borele  at  once  turned  his  head  to  me  and 
advanced  slowly:  Kleinboy,  who  was  on  my  right 
and  had  a  good  chance,  fortunately  fired  without 
orders,  and  the  ball  entered  the  shoulder  with  a 


216  THE  LION  HUNTER 

fine  direction.  Borele  then  charged  madly  and  furi- 
ously through  the  trees  and  bushes,  right  toward 
camp,  making  the  most  tremendous  blowing  noise, 
and  halting  in  a  stony  open  flat  close  to  the  wag- 
ons: he  stood,  and  staggered  about  for  a  minute 
or  two,  and  then  fell.  On  coming  up  to  him,  I 
found  him  a  magnificent  specimen,  carrying  three 
distinct  horns. 

After  breakfast  on  the  10th,  the  oxen  having 
drunk,  we  inspanned  and  marched  to  Bootlonamy, 
which  we  reached  at  sunset. 

After  a  march  of  three  days,  during  which  the 
cattle  and  horses  nearly  died  of  thirst,  we  reached 
Moselakose,  a  retired  fountain  in  a  bold  glen  or 
gorge  in  the  first  mountain  chain  before  us.  As 
we  approached  this  fine  fountain,  the  poor,  thirsty, 
loose  cattle  rushed  ahead  to  the  water,  not  a  little 
gratified  by  the  sight. 

I  found  the  spoor  of  game  abundant  at  the 
water ;  accordingly,  I  outspanned  at  a  considerable 
distance  from  it,  and  at  once  set  about  making  a 
hole  from  which  to  shoot  the  game  as  they  came  up 
to  drink. 

After  breakfast  on  the  16th  I  rode  to  the  water 
and  again  lay  in  my  hole.  There  were  large  herds 
of  game  standing  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of 
me  when  I  lay  down,  and  soon  after  the  horses  had 
disappeared  they  came  on  from  all  sides  and  com- 


ELEPHANTS  — LIONS  — BUFFALOES    217 

pletely  surrounded  me.  It  was  of  no  consequence 
that  they  got  my  wind,  and  frequent  alarms  were 
sounded  —  the  thirsty  game  to  windward  would  not 
heed  the  alarm,  and,  standing  their  ground  fear- 
lessly, they  gave  the  others  confidence.  There  were 
standing  within  shot  of  me  at  once  about  three 
hundred  pallahs,  about  twelve  sassaybies,  and 
twenty  zebras. 

I  could  only  make  out  two  very  fair  heads  iff. 
all  that  vast  herd  of  pallahs,  and  these  were  not 
to  be  compared  with  my  best  Soobie  heads ;  I  there- 
fore amused  myself  by  watching  the  game,  and  did 
not  fire,  having  resolved  to  wait  quietly,  in  the  hope 
of  some  rarer  game  appearing,  such  as  koodoo* 
sable  antelope,  or  wild  boar,  &c.  At  length  I  ob- 
served three  shy,  strange-looking  antelopes  ap* 
proach  the  water,  with  large  bushy  tails,  and  furry- 
looking  reddish-gray  hair.  They  were  three 
rhooze-rheeboks,  a  buck  and  two  does.  I  had 
never  before  heard  that  either  of  the  rheebokji 
frequented  these  parts;  being  anxious  to  certify 
that  this  antelope  did  so,  I  shot  the  buck  through 
the  heart. 

The  next  day  I  again  rode  to  the  water  and  lay 
down,  with  large  herds  of  pallahs,  &c.,  in  view: 
soon  after  the  horses  were  gone,  they  came  in  and 
surrounded  me,  the  same  as  the  day  before.  It 
was  a  fine  show  of  game:  there  were  about  two 


218  THE  LION  HUNTER 

hundred  pallahs,  about  fifty  blue  wildebeests,  thirty 
zebras,  and  thirty  sassaybies,  all  at  once  drinking 
and  standing  within  easy  shot  of  me.  After 
watching  them  for  a  short  time,  I  selected  a  fine 
old  cow  blue  wildebeest,  and  fired,  when  this  vast 
body  of  game  thundered,  panic  stricken,  away  on 
every  side.  As  the  dust  cleared  away  the  gnoo 
was  to  be  seen  standing  alone,  and  in  about  ten 
minutes  she  staggered,  fell,  and  died.  Fifteen 
minutes  afterward  two  herds  of  pallahs  ap- 
proached from  different  directions.  I  was  over- 
hauling them,  when  up  came  two  tearing  wild  boars 
and  stood  broadside  before  me,  with  their  long 
tails  stuck  right  up.  I  took  the  best  behind  the 
shoulder:  he  ran  off  with  his  comrade  up  a  very 
rocky  hill  above  the  fountain,  leaving  the  stones 
red  in  his  wake,  and  feeling  himself  unable  to  pro- 
ceed further,  charged  and  staggered  violently  about 
the  stones,  and  at  last  gave  in,  having  broken  both 
his  under  teeth ;  he  also  squealed  violently  when  the 
struggles  of  death  came  over  him. 

A  singular  circumstance  occurred  as  I  watched 
the  waters  on  the  20th.  Having  shot  a  sassayby, 
he  immediately  commenced  choking  from  the  blood, 
and  his  body  began  to  swell  in  a  most  extraordi- 
nary manner ;  it  continued  swelling,  with  the  animal 
still  alive,  until  it  literally  resembled  a  fisherman's 
float,  when  the  sassayby  died  of  suffocation.  It 


ELEPHANTS  —  LIONS  —  BUFFALOES    219 

was  not  only,  his  body  that  swelled  in  this  extraor- 
dinary manner,  but  even  his  head  and  legs,  down  to 
his  knees. 

The  21st  was  a  bitter  cold  morning,  with  a 
strong  wind  from  the  southwest.  I  rode  to  my 
hole  at  the  fountain  before  the  morning  star  ap- 
peared. Shortly,  becoming  impatient  of  lying 
still,  I  rose  from  my  hole  to  examine  what  game 
had  drunk  during  the  night,  and,  to  my  astonish- 
ment, at  once  discovered  the  spoor  of  a  mighty 
bull  elephant,  which  must  have  drunk  there  not 
many  hours  before.  I  went  in  haste  to  camp,  and, 
having  made  all  ready  for  a  three-days'  trip,  took 
up  the  spoor  with  two  after-riders  and  six  natives. 
It  led  us  in  an  easterly  course,  first  through  a  neck 
in  the  mountains,  and  then  skirting  them  for  about 
five  miles  through  thick  cover  and  over  hard  ada- 
mantine rocks  and  sharp  stones.  The  elephant 
had  fed  as  he  went  along,  and  we  soon  came  up 
with  him  standing  in  a  thicket.  When  we  first 
caught  sight  of  him  he  was  within  twenty  yards 
of  us,  a  bushy  tree  nearly  concealing  him  from 
our  view.  I  first  observed  one  of  his  tusks,  and 
then  I  had  to  dispatch  Kleinboy  to  catch  the  cow- 
ardly natives,  who  were  making  off  at  top  speed 
with  my  dogs  on  strings.  The  dogs  fought  well 
with  him:  it  was  very  rocky  ground,  and  I  gave 
him  one  deadly  shot  before  he  was  aware  of  our 


220  THE  LION  HUNTER 

presence.  I  then  hunted  him  into  softer  ground, 
and  slew  him  with  the  tenth  shot. 

This  fellow  made  up  my  fiftieth  elephant  bagged 
in  Africa,  not  to  mention  numbers  lost. 

On  our  way  to  camp,  while  following  an  old  es- 
tablished elephant  and  rhinoceros  foot-path,  I  ob- 
served &  gray  mass  beneath  a  bush,  with  something 
which  looked  like  a  shining  black  horn  stuck  out 
on  one  side :  it  was  within  about  eight  yards  of  our 
path.  When  I  got  alongside  of  it  I  saw  that  it 
was  a  princely  old  bull  buffalo,  with  a  very  re- 
markably fine  head.  He  had  lain  his  head  flat  on 
the  ground,  and  was  crouching,  in  the  hope  that 
we  should  ride  past  without  observing  him,  just 
as  an  old  stag  or  a  roebuck  does  in  Scotland.  I 
gave  the  dogs  the  signal  of  the  presence  of  game, 
when,  as  dogs  invariably  will  do,  they  dashed  off 
in  the  wrong  direction.  The  buffalo  sprang  to 
his  feet,  and  in  one  instant  he  was  lost  in  the 
thicket. 

From  the  quantity  of  buffalo's  spoor  on  the 
north  side  of  this  mountain  range,  I  made  up  my 
mind  that  there  must  be  some  strong  water  on 
that  side  of  the  hills,  as  only  one  or  two  buffaloes 
occasionally  came  to  drink  at  the  fountain  where 
I  was  encamped ;  the  natives  all  declared  that  there 
was  none.  I,  however,  on  the  22d,  determined  to 
ride  thither  to  explore,  and  accordingly  started 


ELEPHANTS  —  LIONS  —  BUFFALOES 

with  Kleinboy  and  the  Bushman.  We  held  first 
about  west,  and  then  crossed  the  mountains  by  a 
succession  of  very  rocky  valleys  and  ravines. 
When  we  had  gained  the  highest  part  of  the  rock, 
which  opened  to  us  the  forests  of  the  north,  a  troop 
of  seven  doe  koodoos  and  three  rhooze-rheeboks 
started  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  ravine.  The 
dogs,  observing  the  koodoos,  gave  immediate  chase : 
and  after  a  very  fine  and  bold  course,  they  brought 
one  to  bay  far  in  the  valley  below,  which  Kleinbov 
shot. 

I  had,  in  the  mean  time,  ridden  ahead,  following 
an  old-established  game  foot-path,  and  after  pro- 
ceeding two  or  three  miles  I  had  the  satisfaction 
to  discover  a  beautiful  fountain  in  a  deep  rocky 
ravine  on  the  north  side  of  the  mountains.  Here 
was  fresh  spoor  of  black  and  white  rhinoceros,  buf- 
falo, wildebeest,  sassayby,  koodoo,  klip-springer, 
&c.  A  little  after  this  I  was  met  by  my  after-rid- 
ers, who  had  likewise  discovered  a  ravine  contain- 
ing water  a  little  to  the  east.  There  they  had 
started  two  bull  buffaloes,  three  buck  koodoos,  and 
a  troop  of  rheebok.  I  then  rode  to  inspect  this 
water,  and  took  up  the  spoor  of  the  buffaloes, 
in  the  hope  of  bringing  them  to  bay  with  the  dogs. 
I  held  up  the  hollow  on  their  spoor,  and  presently 
observed  one  of  them  standing  among  some  trees 
to  my  left.  The  dogs  were  snuffing  about  close 


222  THE  LION  HUNTER 

under  his  nose ;  nevertheless,  they  failed  to  observe 
him,  but  set  off  at  top  speed  on  some  other  scent ; 
nor  did  they  return  for  about  ten  minutes. 

The  buffalo  did  not  seem  startled  by  the  dogs, 
but  walked  slowly  over  the  rocky  ridge.  I  was 
following  briskly  after  him,  when  I  observed  his 
comrade  lying  right  in  our  path;  we  squatted  in- 
stantly, but  he  got  our  wind  and  was  off.  I  fol- 
lowed, and  got  a  shot  across  the  ravine,  wounding 
him  behind  the  shoulder.  When  the  dogs  came  up 
I  tried  to  put  them  on  this  spoor,  but  they  dashed 
up  the  ravine  and  started  three  other  buffaloes, 
which  they  failed  in  bringing  to  bay,  nor  did  I 
again  see  the  dogs  till  I  had  been  two  hours  in 
camp.  I  nearly  killed  myself  by  running  after 
them,  for  I  was  on  foot,  the  ground  being  too 
bad  for  the  horses. 

On  reaching  the  steeds  I  rode  hard  for  camp,  as 
the  day  was  far  spent.  Passing  the  mouth  of 
another  bold  ravine,  we  crossed  very  well-beaten 
paths,  which  led  me  to  suspect  that  this  ravine 
also  contained  a  fountain.  We  had  ridden  about 
half  way  to  camp  when  a  fine  old  bull  eland 
came  charging  up  to  leeward,  having  got  our 
wind.  I  sprang  from  the  back  of  Mazeppa,  and 
gave  him  both  barrels  as  he  passed  me.  We  then 
gave  him  chase  through  very  thick  cover,  and  after 
a  sharp  burst  of  about  a  mile  I  shot  him  from  the 


ELEPHANTS — LIONS  —  BUFFALOES    223 

saddle:  he  carried  a  very  fine  head,  and  was,  not- 
withstanding the  lateness  of  the  season,  in  very 
good  condition. 

On  the  23d,  in  the  forenoon,  I  rode  to  explore 
the  suspected  ravine  of  the  day  before,  and,  having 
crossed  the  mountain  chain,  came  upon  the  fresh 
spoor  of  a  very  large  troop  of  cow  elephants 
leading  toward  the  spot.  I  at  once  determined  to 
follow  it,  and  dispatched  the  Bushman  to  camp 
for  the  dogs  and  Kleinboy's  gun,  &c.  I  rode 
slowly  ahead  on  the  spoor,  imagining  the  elephants 
at  a  great  distance,  when,  on  gaining  a  ridge,  I 
came  full  upon  the  troop,  drawn  up  within  twenty- 
five  yards  of  me.  There  were  perhaps  from 
twenty-five  to  thirty  of  them.  The  instant  I 
came  upon  them  they  got  my  wind,  and,  rumbling, 
away  they  went  in  three  divisions  into  the  im- 
penetrable cover. 

The  ground  that  I  had  now  reached  was  one 
solid  mass  of  sharp  adamantine  blocks  of  rock, 
so  that  a  horse  could  with  difficulty  walk  on  it. 
I  held  along  the  ridge  above  the  cover,  and  in 
half  a  minute  I  heard  one  division  of  the  elephants 
crashing  through  the  cover  after  me.  They  came 
on  a  little  above  me,  and  another  troop  held  the 
same  course  a  little  before  me,  so  that  I  had  con- 
siderable di;II:vlty  in  getting  clear  of  them,  and 
when  I  did  I  held  for  the  level  ground  beneath 


*S4i  THE  LION  HUNTER 

the  dense  cover.  Here  I  fell  in  with  one  elephant 
with  a  calf :  she  had  only  one  tooth.  I  gave  her  a 
uhot  after  the  shoulder;  and  next  minute,  while 
trying  to  head  her  in  the  dense  cover,  she  very 
nearly  ran  me  down  in  her  charge.  I,  of  course, 
lost  her  immediately,  being  without  dogs. 

I  then  gave  up  the  elephants  in  vexation  with 
Uie  ground,  and  rode  to  explore  the  ravine.  My 
Bounded  elephant,  however,  happened  to  take  the 
.'..ame  course  above  me  in  the  cover,  and  I  once 
snore  fell  in  with  her.  She  was  going  slowly  along 
ihe  hill  sides,  keeping  in  the  thickest  cover,  with 
41  rocky  ground,  where  my  horse  would  be  of  no 
service  to  me.  I  might  now  have  got  her,  but  as 
(the  had  only  one  tooth  I  was  not  anxious  about 
!1ier,  so  I  held  up  the  bold  ravine. 

Here,  as  I  expected,  I  found  a  strong  fountain 
3U1  a  solid  rocky  basin  not  more  than  ten  feet 
wide:  it  was  a  very  interesting  spot,  approachable 
iuy  three  different  rugged  passes,  the  sides  of 
which  were  furrowed  by  broad  foot-paths  estab- 
lished there  through  ages.  The  large  stones  and 
masses  of  rock  were  either  kicked  to  the  side  or 
Blacked  into  a  level  "like  a  pavement";  even  the 
uolJd  adamantine  rock  was  worn  hollow  by  the 
:teet  of  the  mighty  game  which  most  probably 
lN)r  a  thousand  years  had  passed  over  it.  Here  I 
round  fresh  spoor  of  most  of  the  larger  game,  and, 


ELEPHANTS  —  LIONS  —  BUFFALOES    225 

resolving  to  play  havoc  by  light  of  the  coming 
moon,  I  left  the  glen  and  rode  for  camp. 

On  the  25th,  after  breakfast,  I  started  with 
bedding  and  provisions  to  hunt  for  a  few  days  on 
the  other  side  of  the  hills.  We  visited  the  first 
water,  and  established  a  place  of  concealment  with 
rocks  and  green  boughs  on  the  rock.  While  we 
were  making  this  bothy  a  wild  boar  hove  in  view, 
but,  observing  us,  he  escaped.  We  then  held  on 
to  the  further  ravine,  and  on  my  way  thither  I 
nearly  rode  down  a  fine  old  bastard  gemsbok, 
which  got  away  among  the  rocks.  I  repaired  an 
old  hiding-hole  at  this  water,  building  it  up  with 
fragments  of  rock.  I  then  sent  the  steeds  to  a 
proper  distance,  put  out  my  fire,  and  lay  down 
to  watch  for  the  night. 

First  came  a  pallah,  closely  followed  by  a  wild 
dog.  The  pallah  escaped ;  the  wild  dog  presently 
returned,  and,  observing  my  retreating  men, 
barked  loudly  ;  ten  minutes  after,  about  eight 
wild  dogs  came  up  the  glen  and  drank.  Night 
now  set  in,  and  the  moonlight  very  faint.  Pres- 
ently an  occasional  loud  displacement  of  rock  and 
stone  announced  the  approach  of  large  game:  it 
was  two  old  bull  buffaloes ;  they  came  and  drank, 
and  went  away  without  approaching  within  shot. 
Soon  after,  fourteen  buffaloes  came;  but  before 
these  had  finished  drinking,  they  got  an  alarm, 


226  THE  LION  HUNTER 

and  charged  panic-stricken  up  the  rugged  moun- 
tain side.  They  had  winded  two  lions,  which  came 
up  to  the  fountain  head,  and  drank  within 
eighteen  yards  of  me,  where  they  lay  lapping 
loudly,  and  occasionally  halting  for  four  or  five 
minutes,  but,  from  their  light  color  and  the  masses 
of  rock  that  surrounded  them,  I  could  not  see  to 
fire.  About  ten  minutes  after  they  had  drunk  I 
fancied  that  they  were  still  lingering,  and  on 
throwing  a  stone  their  step  was  heard  retreating 
among  the  dry  leaves  and  stones. 

Soon  after  this  six  old  bull  buffaloes  approached 
from  a  glen  behind  us:  they  walked  very  slowly, 
standing  long  to  listen.  When  the  leader  came  up 
to  within  twenty  yards  of  us,  Kleinboy  and  I  fired 
together;  it  ran  thirty  yards,  and  in  two  minutes 
fell.  His  comrades,  after  considering  the  matter 
for  five  minutes,  came  on  once  more:  we  again 
took  the  leader,  and  he  also  dropped.  His  com- 
rades, as  before,  retreated,  but,  soon  returning, 
we  wounded  a  third,  which  we  did  not  get.  The 
moon  was  now  under,  and  it  was  very  dark;  the 
buffaloes,  however,  were  determined  to  try  it  on 
once  more,  and  coming  up  a  fourth  and  last  time, 
we  shot  another  old  bull.  In  about  ten  minutes 
lions  were  very  busy  on  the  carcass  of  the  first 
buffalo,  where  they  feasted  till  morning,  taking 
another  drink  before  they  went  away.  Toward 


ELEPHANTS  — LIONS  — BUFFALOES    227 

daybreak  we  wounded  a  white  rhinoceros,  and  soon 
after  two  black  rhinoceroses  fought  beside  us,  but 
I  was  too  sleepy  to  rise. 

On  the  26th  I  rose  at  earliest  dawn  to  inspect 
the  heads  of  the  three  old  buffaloes ;  they  were  all 
enormous  old  bulls,  and  one  of  them  carried  a  most 
splendid  head.  The  lions  had  cleaned  out  all  his 
entrails :  their  spoor  was  immense.  Having  taken 
some  buffalo  breast  and  liver  for  breakfast,  I  dis- 
patched Ruyter  to  the  wagons  to  call  the  natives 
to  remove  the  carcasses,  while  I  and  Kleinboy  held 
through  the  hills  to  see  what  game  might  be  in 
the  next  glen  which  contained  water.  On  our  way 
thither  we  started  a  fine  old  buck  koodoo,  which  I 
shot,  putting  both  barrels  into  him  at  one  hundred 
yards.  As  I  was  examining  the  spoor  of  the  game 
by  the  fountain,  I  suddenly  detected  an  enormous 
old  rock-snake  stealing  in  beneath  a  mass  of  rock 
beside  me. 

He  was  truly  an  enormous  snake,  and,  having 
never  before  dealt  with  this  species  of  game,  I  did 
not  exactly  know  how  to  set  about  capturing  him. 
Being  very  anxious  to  preserve  his  skin  entire,  and 
not  wishing  to  have  recourse  to  my  rifle,  I  cut  a 
stout  and  tough  stick  about  eight  feet  long,  and 
having  lightened  myself  of  my  shooting-belt,  I 
commenced  the  attack.  Seizing  him  by  the  tail, 
I  tried  to  get  him  out  of  his  place  of  refuge ;  but 


228  THE  LION  HUNTER 

I  hauled  in  vain;  he  only  drew  his  large  folds 
firmer  together ;  I  could  not  move  him.  At  length 
I  got  a  rheim  round  one  of  his  folds  about  the 
middle  of  his  body,  and  Kleinboy  and  I  com- 
menced hauling  away  in  good  earnest. 

The  snake,  finding  the  ground  too  hot  for  him, 
relaxed  his  coils,  and,  suddenly  bringing  round  his 
head  to  the  front,  he  sprang  out  at  us  like  an 
arrow,  with  his  immense  and  hideous  mouth  opened 
to  its  largest  dimensions,  and  before  I  could  get 
out  of  his  way  he  was  clean  out  of  his  hole,  and 
made  a  second  spring,  throwing  himself  forward 
about  eight  or  ten  feet,  and  snapping  his  horrid 
fangs  within  a  foot  of  my  naked  legs.  I  sprang 
out  of  his  way,  and,  getting  a  hold  of  the  green 
bough  I  had  cut,  returned  to  the  charge.  The 
snake  now  glided  along  at  top  speed:  he  knew  the 
ground  well,  and  was  making  for  a  mass  of  broken 
rocks,  where  he  would  have  been  beyond  my  reach, 
but  before  he  could  gain  this  place  of  refuge  I 
caught  him  two  or  three  tremendous  whacks  on  the 
head.  He,  however,  held  on,  and  gained  a  pool  of 
muddy  water,  which  he  was  rapidly  crossing,  when 
I  again  belabored  him,  and  at  length  reduced  his 
pace  to  a  stand.  We  then  hanged  him  by  the  neck 
to  a  bough  of  a  tree,  and  in  about  fifteen  minutes 
he  seemed  dead,  but  he  again  became  very  trouble- 
some during  the  operation  of  skinning,  twisting 


ELEPHANTS  — LIONS  — BUFFALOES    229 

his  body  in  all  manner  of  ways.  This  serpent 
measured  fourteen  feet. 

At  night  no  game  visited  the  water,  being  scared 
by  the  strong  smell  of  the  carrion.  Lions,  how- 
ever, were  so  numerous  that  we  deemed  it  safe  to 
shift  a  position  we  had  taken  down  the  glen,  for 
they  trotted  past  within  twenty  yards  of  us, 
growling  fearfully.  We  fired  off  the  big  gun  to 
scare  them  for  the  moment  while  we  shifted  to  our 
baggage  at  the  fountain  head,  where  we  instantly 
lighted  a  large  fire.  The  lions,  for  a  short  time 
after  this,  kept  quiet,  when  they  again  returned, 
and  the  fire  being  low,  they  soon  commenced  upon 
the  buffalo  the  natives  had  left  within  fifty  yards 
of  us,  and  before  morning  two  of  them  came  up 
and  looked  into  our  bothy,  when  Boxer  giving  a 
sharp  bark,  and  I  suddenly  awaking  and  popping 
up  my  head,  they  bounded  off. 

In  the  evening  of  the  28th  I  shot  an  old  bull 
koodoo.  At  night  I  watched  the  water  near  my 
camp  with  Kleinboy.  After  a  long  time  had 
elapsed,  an  enormous  old  bull  muchocho  or  white 
rhinoceros  came  slowly  on,  and  commenced  drink- 
ing within  fifteen  yards  of  us,  and  next  minute 
a  large  herd  of  zebras  and  blue  wildebeest.  It  was 
long  before  the  muchocho  would  turn  his  side; 
when  he  did,  we  fired  together,  and  away  he  went 
with  zebras  and  wildebeests  concealed  in  a  cloud 


230  THE  LION  HUNTER 

of  dust.  Next  came  an  old  bull  borele;  we  fired 
together,  and  he  made  off,  blowing  loudly,  after 
charging  round  and  round,  seeking  some  object 
on  which  to  wreak  his  vengeance.  Next  came 
another  borele,  and  he  got  two  bullets  into  his 
person.  The  fourth  that  came  was  another  old 
bull  muchocho ;  he  ran  forty  yards  and  fell.  And 
fifth  came  a  cow  borele;  she  fell  dead  to  the  shots. 
Three  other  rhinoceroses  came  about  me,  but  I  was 
too  drowsy  to  watch  any  longer,  and  fell  asleep. 

These  fountains  afforded  me  excellent  shooting 
for  about  a  fortnight  longer,  during  the  whole  of 
which  time  I  watched  nightly  in  my  different 
hiding-holes,  and  bagged  buffaloes,  rhinoceroses, 
koodoos,  zebras,  and  other  game.  One  night, 
while  so  engaged,  a  horrid  snake  which  Kleinboy 
had  tried  to  kill  with  his  loading-rod  flew  up  at 
my  eye,  and  spat  poison  into  it.  Immediately  I 
washed  it  well  out  at  the  fountain.  I  endured 
great  pain  all  night,  but  next  day  the  eye  came 
all  right. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

BUFFALOES LIONS HIPPOPOTAMI 

ON  the  16th  of  October  we  inspanned,  and 
trekked  steadily  on  for  Sichely  under  a 
most  terrific   sun,   and  halted   at   sun- 
down without  water :  the  country  was  covered  with 
spoor  of  all  the  larger  varieties  of  game,  including 
elephants. 

On  the  17th  I  inspanned,  and  trekked  a  couple 
of  miles,  when  I  found  myself  once  more  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ngotwani,  which,  except  at  its  source, 
was  this  year  generally  dried  up;  we,  however, 
found  a  spot  in  its  gravelly  bed  where,  by  digging, 
we  obtained  sufficient  water  for  all.  The  natives 
in  charge  of  the  loose  cattle  chose  to  remain  behind 
all  night,  I  having  too  well  supplied  them  with 
flesh.  Though  my  remaining  stud  of  six  horses 
and  twelve  trek-oxen  were  thus  absent  all  night, 
I  was  not  anxious  about  them,  trusting  to  the 
usual  good  herding  of  the  natives.  When,  how- 
ever, they  came  up  after  breakfast,  they  were 
minus  all  the  loose  oxen,  without  being  able  to 
231 


THE  LION  HUNTER 

give  any  account  of  them,  further  than  that  they 
imagined  that  they  were  with  us:  I  accordingly 
dispatched  two  of  my  men  on  horseback  to  take 
up  their  spoor. 

On  the  18th  I  arose  before  it  was  clear,  and 
rode  up  the  banks  of  the  river  with  my  dogs  to 
seek  for  water-buck,  and  presently  arrived  where 
another  considerable  river's  bed  joins  the  Ngot- 
wani.  Near  this  spot  I  came  upon  an  old  water- 
buck,  the  first  I  had  ever  seen.  He  was  standing 
among  some  young  thorn-trees,  within  sixty  yards, 
and  had  his  eye  full  upon  me.  Before  I  could 
pull  up  my  horse  he  was  off  at  a  rapid  pace,  and 
crossed  the  river's  bed  above  me.  I  shouted  to  the 
dogs,  and  fired  a  shot  to  encourage  them;  they 
had  a  pretty  fair  start,  and  in  half  a  minute  the 
buck  disappeared  over  a  rocky  ridge,  with  three 
or  four  of  my  best  dogs  within  thirty  yards  of  his 
stern.  I  knew  that  he  would  make  for  the  nearest 
water;  accordingly,  I  kept  my  eye  down  the  river, 
and  listened  with  an  attentive  ear  for  the  baying 
of  the  dogs.  Presently  the  noble  buck  appeared 
ascending  a  rocky  pyramidal  hill  down  the  river 
side,  with  the  agility  of  a  chamois,  and  only  one 
dog,  Boxer,  my  best,  at  his  heels.  I  then  gal- 
loped down  the  river  side  at  top  speed  to  meet 
him,  but  was  too  late:  I,  however,  fired  a  long 
shot  to  encourage  Boxer.  Next  moment,  in 


BUFFALOES  —  HIPPOPOTAMI   233 

ascending  the  opposite  bank  of  the  Ngotwani,  my 
horse  fell  and  rolled  down  the  bank  very  nearly  on 
the  top  of  me.  One  of  the  barrels  of  my  favorite 
ball  gun  was  thereby  stove,  by  coming  in  violent 
contact  with  a  piece  of  rock. 

Jock,  on  gaining  his  legs,  declined  being  caught, 
and  made  off  for  camp,  followed  by  my  after- 
rider.  Alert  at  this  moment  came  up  to  me,  having 
eight  or  ten  inches  of  the  skin  of  his  breast  and 
fore-arm  ripped  clean  up  by  the  water-buck.  I 
now  fancied  that  I  had  lost  him,  but  a  little  after  I 
heard  Boxer's  voice  coming  down  the  river  side  with 
the  buck,  having  once  more  turned  him.  I  ran 
up  the  bank  of  the  Ngotwani  at  my  best  pace  to 
meet  them,  and  found  the  water-buck  at  bay  in 
a  deep  pool  of  water,  surrounded  by  high  banks  of 
granite  rock.  He  would  not  stand  at  bay,  but 
swam  through  the  deep  water  and  broke  bay  on 
the  opposite  side.  Boxer,  however,  held  on,  and 
followed  him  up  the  river,  and  once  more  turned 
him  to  this  pool.  I  met  them  coming  down  the 
water-course,  and  sent  a  ball  into  the  buck's 
throat,  which  made  blood  flow  freely  from  his 
mouth.  He  held  stoutly  on,  however,  and  plunged 
into  the  deep  pool,  there  standing  at  bay  under  a 
granite  rock.  I  then  headed  him,  and  from  above 
put  a  bullet  between  his  two  shoulder  blades,  which 
dropped  him  dead  on  the  spot.  He  died  as  a 


234  THE  LION  HUNTER 

water-buck  ought,  in  the  deep  water.  My  success 
with  this  noble  and  very  beautiful  antelope  gave 
me  most  sincere  pleasure. 

I  had  now  shot  noble  specimens  of  every  sort  of 
game  in  South  Africa,  excepting  a  few  small  bucks 
common  in  the  colony,  and  the  hippopotamus. 
Having  contemplated  the  water-buck  for  some 
time,  I  cut  off  his  handsome  head,  which  I  bore  to 
camp  in  triumph.  The  next  day  I  succeeded  in 
bringing  down  another  fine  water-buck  after  a 
hot  chase. 

On  the  19th  Kleinboy  returned  without  the  lost 
oxen :  the  natives  said  that  they  had  been  found 
by  Bakalahari,  and  were  driven  to  Sichely.  Next 
day  the  half  of  them  were  sent  by  the  chief,  with 
a  message  that  no  more  had  been  found,  but  that 
spoor  had  been  seen. 

On  the  morning  of  the  22d  I  rode  into  camp, 
after  unsuccessfully  following  the  spoor  of  a  herd 
of  elephants  for  two  days  in  a  westerly  course. 
Having  partaken  of  some  refreshment,  I  saddled 
up  two  steeds  and  rode  down  the  bank  of  Ngot- 
wani  with  the  Bushman,  to  seek  for  any  game  I 
might  find.  After  riding  about  a  mile  along  the 
river's  green  bank,  I  came  suddenly  upon  an  old 
male  leopard,  lying  under  the  shade  of  a  thorn 
grove,  and  panting  from  the  great  heat.  Al- 
though I  was  within  sixty  yards  of  him,  he  had 


BUFFALOES  —  HIPPOPOTAMI      235 

not  heard  the  horses'  tread.  I  thought  he  was  a 
lioness,  and,  dismounting,  took  a  rest  in  my  saddle 
on  the  Old  Gray,  and  sent  a  bullet  into  him.  He 
sprang  to  his  feet,  and  ran  half  way  down  the 
river's  bank,  and  stood  to  look  about  him,  when  I 
sent  a  second  bullet  into  his  person,  and  he  dis- 
appeared over  the  bank. 

The  ground  being  very  dangerous,  I  did  not 
disturb  him  by  following  then,  but  I  at  once  sent 
Ruyter  back  to  camp  for  the  dogs.  Presently  he 
returned  with  Wolf  and  Boxer,  very  much  done  up 
with  the  sun.  I  rode  forward,  and  on  looking 
over  the  bank  the  leopard  started  up  and  sneaked 
off  alongside  of  the  tall  reeds,  and  was  instantly 
out  of  sight.  I  fired  a  random  shot  from  the 
saddle  to  encourage  the  dogs,  and  shouted  to  them ; 
they,  however,  stood  looking  stupidly  round,  and 
would  not  take  up  his  scent  at  all.  I  led  them 
over  his  spoor  again  and  again,  but  to  no  pur- 
pose; the  dogs  seemed  quite  stupid,  and  yet  they 
were  Wolf  and  Boxer,  my  two  best. 

At  length  I  gave  it  up  as  a  lost  affair,  and  was 
riding  down  the  river's  bank,  when  I  heard  Wolf 
give  tongue  behind  me,  and,  galloping  back,  found 
him  at  bay  with  the  leopard,  immediately  beneath 
where  I  had  fired  at  him:  he  was  very  severely 
wounded,  and  had  slipped  down  into  the  river's 
bed  and  doubled  back,  whereby  he  had  thrown  out 


236  THE  LION  HUNTER 

both  the  dogs  and  myself.  As  I  approached  he 
flew  out  upon  Wolf  and  knocked  him  over,  and 
then,  running  up  the  bed  of  the  river,  took  shelter 
in  a  thick  bush:  Wolf,  however,  followed  him,  and 
at  this  moment  my  other  dogs  came  up,  having 
heard  the  shot,  and  bayed  him  fiercely.  He  sprang 
out  upon  them,  and  then  crossed  the  river's  bed, 
taking  shelter  beneath  some  large  tangled  roots  on 
the  opposite  bank.  As  he  crossed  the  river  I  put  a 
third  bullet  into  him,  firing  from  the  saddle,  and 
as  soon  as  he  came  to  bay,  I  gave  him  a  fourth, 
which  finished  him.  This  leopard  was  a  very  fine 
old  male:  in  the  conflict  the  unfortunate  Alert 
was  wounded,  as  usual,  getting  his  face  torn  open; 
he  was  still  going  on  three  legs,  with  all  his  breast 
laid  bare  by  the  first  water-buck. 

In  the  evening  I  directed  my  Hottentots  to 
watch  a  fine  pool  in  the  river,  and  do  their  best 
while  I  rode  to  a  distant  pool  several  miles  up  the 
Ngotwani,  reported  as  very  good  for  game,  to  lie 
all  night  and  watch :  my  Totties,  however,  fearing 
"  Tao,"  disobeyed  me.  On  reaching  the  water  I 
was  bound  for,  I  found  it  very  promising,  and, 
having  fastened  my  two  horses  to  a  tree  beneath 
the  river's  bank,  I  prepared  a  place  of  conceal- 
ment close  by,  and  lay  down  for  the  night. 

The  river's  banks  on  each  side  were  clad  with 
groves  of  shady  thorn-trees.  After  I  had  lain 


BUFFALOES  —  HIPPOPOTAMI      237 

some  time,  squadrons  of  buffaloes  were  heard  com- 
ing on,  until  the  shady  grove  on  the  east  bank  of 
the  water  immediately  above  me  was  alive  with 
them.  After  some  time  the  leaders  ventured  down 
the  river's  bank  to  drink,  and  this  was  the  signal 
for  a  general  rush  into  the  large  pool  of  water: 
they  came  on  like  a  regiment  of  cavalry  at  a 
gallop,  making  a  mighty  din,  and  obscuring  the 
air  with  a  dense  cloud  of  dust.  At  length  I  sent 
a  ball  into  one  of  them,  when  the  most  tremendous 
rush  followed  up  the  bank,  where  they  all  stood 
still,  listening  attentively.  I  knew  that  the  buf- 
falo was  severely  wounded,  but  did  not  hear 
him  fall. 

Some  time  after  I  fired  at  a  second,  as  they 
stood  on  the  bank  above  me ;  this  buffalo  was  also 
hard  hit,  but  did  not  then  fall.  A  little  after  I 
fired  at  a  third  on  the  same  spot;  he  ran  forty 
yards,  and,  falling,  groaned  fearfully :  this  at  once 
brought  on  a  number  of  the  others  to  butt  their 
dying  comrade,  according  to  their  benevolent 
custom.  I  then  crept  in  toward  them,  and,  firing 
my  fourth  shot,  a  second  buffalo  ran  forward  a 
few  yards,  and,  falling,  groaned  as  the  last;  her 
comrades,  coming  up,  served  her  in  the  same 
manner.  A  second  time  I  crept  in,  and,  firing  a 
fifth  shot,  a  third  buffalo  ran  forward,  and  fell 
close  to  her  dying  comrades:  in  a  few  minutes  all 


238  THE  LION  HUNTER 

the  other  buffaloes  made  off,  and  the  sound  of 
teeth  tearing  at  the  flesh  was  heard  immediately. 

I  fancied  it  was  the  hyaenas,  and  fired  a  shot  to 
scare  them  from  the  flesh.  All  was  still;  and, 
being  anxious  to  inspect  the  heads  of  the  buffaloes, 
I  went  boldly  forward,  taking  the  native  who  ac- 
companied me  along  with  me.  We  were  within 
about  five  yards  of  the  nearest  buffalo,  when  I 
observed  a  yellow  mass  lying  alongside  of  him, 
and  at  the  same  instant  a  lion  gave  a  deep  growl. 
I  thought  it  was  all  over  with  me.  The  native 
shouted  "  Tao,"  and,  springing  away,  instantly 
commenced  blowing  shrilly  through  a  charmed 
piece  of  bone  which  he  wore  on  his  necklace.  I 
retreated  to  the  native,  and  we  then  knelt  down. 

The  lion  continued  his  meal,  tearing  away  at 
the  buffalo,  and  growling  at  his  wife  and  family, 
who,  I  found  next  day  by  the  spoor,  had  accom- 
panied him.  Knowing  that  he  would  not  molest 
me  if  I  left  him  alone,  I  proposed  to  the  native 
to  go  to  our  hole  and  lie  down,  but  he  would  not 
hear  of  it,  and  entreated  me  to  fire  at  the  lion.  I 
fired  three  different  shots  where  I  thought  I  saw 
him,  but  without  any  effect ;  he  would  not  so  much 
as  for  a  moment  cease  munching  my  buffalo.  I 
then  proceeded  to  lie  down,  and  was  soon  asleep, 
the  native  keeping  watch  over  our  destinies. 
Some  time  after  midnight  other  lions  were  heard 


BUFFALOES  —  HIPPOPOTAMI      239 

coming  on  from  other  airts,  and  my  old  friend 
commenced  roaring  so  loudly  that  the  native 
thought  it  proper  to  wake  me. 

The  first  old  lion  now  wanted  to  drink,  and  held 
right  away  for  the  two  unfortunate  steeds,  roaring 
terribly.  I  felt  rather  alarmed  for  their  safety; 
but,  trusting  that  the  lion  had  had  flesh  enough 
for  one  night,  I  lay  still,  and  listened  with  an 
attentive  ear.  In  a  few  minutes,  to  my  utter 
horror,  I  heard  him  spring  upon  one  of  the  steeds 
with  an  angry  growl,  and  dash  him  to  the  earth; 
the  steed  gave  a  slight  groan,  and  all  was  still. 
I  listened  to  hear  the  sound  of  teeth,  but  all  con- 
tinued still.  Soon  after  this  "  Tao "  was  once 
more  to  be  heard  munching  the  buffalo.  In  a  few 
minutes  he  came  forward,  and  stood  on  the  bank 
close  above  us,  and  roared  most  terribly,  walking 
up  and  down,  as  if  meditating  some  mischief.  I 
now  thought  it  high  time  to  make  a  fire,  and, 
quickly  collecting  some  dry  reeds  and  little  sticks, 
in  half  a  minute  we  had  a  cheerful  blaze.  The 
lion,  which  had  not  yet  got  our  wind,  came  for- 
ward at  once  to  find  out  what  the  deuce  was  up; 
but,  not  seeing  to  his  entire  satisfaction  from  the 
top  of  the  bank,  he  was  proceeding  to  descend  by 
a  game-path  into  the  river-bed  within  a  few  yards 
of  us.  I  happened  at  the  very  moment  to  go  to 
this  spot  to  fetch  more  wood,  and,  being  entirely 


240  THE  LION  HUNTER 

concealed  from  the  lion's  view  above  by  the  inter- 
vening high  reeds,  we  actually  met  face  to  face ! 

The  first  notice  I  got  was  his  sudden  spring  to 
one  side,  accompanied  by  repeated  angry  growls, 
while  I  involuntarily  made  a  convulsive  spring 
backward,  at  the  same  time  giving  a  fearful  shriek, 
such  as  I  never  before  remember  uttering.  I 
fancied  just  as  he  growled  that  he  was  coming 
upon  me.  We  now  heaped  on  more  wood,  and 
kept  up  a  very  strong  fire  until  the  day  dawned, 
the  lions  feasting  beside  us  all  the  time,  notwith- 
standing the  remonstrances  of  the  little  native, 
who,  with  a  true  Bechuana  spirit,  lamenting  the 
loss  of  so  much  good  flesh,  kept  continually  shout- 
ing and  pelting  them  with  flaming  brands.  .  .  . 

[After  some  further  hunting,  Gumming  re- 
turned  to  Grahamstown,  where  he  sold  his  ivory 
and  ostrich  feathers  for  somewhere  about  £1,000, 
On  the  llth  of  March,  1846,  he  started  on  a  third 
expedition  into  the  far  interior. — Ed.] 

On  the  23d,  when  within  two  miles  of  the 
Molopo,  the  dogs  took  up  the  scent  of  lions.  I 
then  halted  my  wagons,  and,  having  saddled  up 
two  horses,  rode  with  Ruyter  in  quest  of  them, 
accompanied  by  ten  of  my  dogs,  who  kept  the 
scent  for  a  short  distance,  and  at  last  lost  it 
altogether,  and  went  off  on  the  scent  of  some 
hartebeests. 


BUFFALOES  —  HIPPOPOTAMI      241 

I  now  rode  forward  to  the  Molopo,  which  I 
made  about  one  mile  lower  down  than  the  drift. 
This  darling  little  river  is  here  completely  con- 
cealed by  lofty  reeds  and  long  grass,  which  densely 
clothe  its  margin  to  a  distance  of  at  least  a  hun- 
dred yards.  On  each  side  reitbok  were  very 
abundant.  On  making  the  river  we  started  one 
of  these.  I  rode  up  the  river  side,  and  imme- 
diately observed  two  old  lions  come  slowly  out 
from  the  adjoining  cover  and  slant  off  toward  the 
reeds.  I  galloped  forward  to  endeavor  to  get 
between  them  and  the  reeds ;  in  this  I  succeeded. 
The  lions,  imagining  that  we  were  some  species  of 
game,  did  not  attempt  to  retreat,  but  stood  look- 
ing in  wonder  until  I  was  within  fifty  yards  of 
them,  and  right  between  the  last  lion  and  the  reeds. 
I  was  struck  with  wonder  and  admiration  at  the 
majestic  and  truly  awful  appearance  which  these 
two  noble  old  lions  presented. 

They  were  both  very  large ;  the  first,  a  "  schwart 
fore-life,"  or  black-maned  lion;  the  last,  which 
was  the  finest  and  the  oldest,  a  "  chiell  fore-life," 
or  yellow-maned  lion.  The  black-maned  lion, 
after  looking  at  me  for  half  a  minute,  walked 
slowly  forward  and  bounded  into  the  reeds ;  the 
dark-brown  lion  would  fain  have  done  the  same, 
but  I  was  now  right  between  him  and  his  retreat. 
He  seemed  not  at  all  to  like  my  appearance,  but 


242  THE  LION  HUNTER 

did  not  yet  feel  certain  what  I  was,  and,  fancying 
that  I  had  not  observed  him,  he  lay  down  in  the 
long  grass.  Ruyter  now  came  up  with  my  rifle. 
Having  loaded  in  the  saddle,  I  waited  a  minute  for 
all  my  dogs  to  come  up,  they  having  gone  off  after 
the  reitbok,  and  then  rode  slowly  forward  toward 
the  lion,  as  if  to  pass  within  twenty-five  yards  of 
him.  Not  one  of  the  dogs  was  yet  aware  of  the 
lion,  and  they  came  on  behind  my  horse. 

This  move  on  my  part  lost  me  the  lion,  for  by  so 
doing  I  laid  open  the  ground  of  retreat  between 
him  and  the  reeds;  and  on  coming  within  twenty 
or  twenty-five  yards  of  him,  and  while  in  the  act 
of  reining  in  my  horse  to  fire,  he  took  his  eye  off 
me,  examined  the  ground  between  him  and  the 
reeds,  and,  seeing  the  coast  clear,  suddenly 
bounded  forward,  and,  before  I  could  even  dis- 
mount from  my  panic-stricken  steed,  was  at  the 
edge  of  the  reeds,  which  he  entered  with  a  lofty 
spring,  making  the  water  fly  as  he  pitched  into  it. 
Several  of  the  dogs  entered  after  him,  but  imme- 
diately retreated,  barking  over  their  shoulders 
in  great  fear.  Thus  I  lost  this  most  noble  lion, 
which,  with  better  management,  I  might  easily 
have  slain.  I  ought  to  have  approached  him  on 
foot,  leading  my  steed,  and  I  ought  not  to  have 
laid  open  the  ground  of  retreat. 

On  the  27th  we  trekked  to  Chouaney,  which  we 


BUFFALOES  —  HIPPOPOTAMI      243 

reached  at  sundown,  and  remained  there  to  trade 
next  day.  I  obtained  from  Sichely  two  natives  to 
accompany  me  to  the  Limpopo,  their  pay  being  a 
musket  each.  I  got  also  from  the  chief  twelve 
elephants'  teeth,  several  very  fine  karosses,  native 
arms,  and  other  curiosities. 

About  mid-day  we  marched,  and  slept  near  the 
Ngotwani,  along  whose  banks  my  course  lay  for 
the  Limpopo.  The  country  through  which  the 
Ngotwani  twines  is  soft  and  sandy,  and  in  general 
covered  with  dense  thorny  jungle,  which  greatly 
impeded  our  progress,  having  constantly  to  cut  a 
passage  before  the  wagons  could  advance.  Sev- 
eral lions  commenced  roaring  around  us  soon 
after  the  sun  went  down. 

On  the  evening  of  the  next  day  I  had  a  glorious 
row  with  an  old  bull  buffalo :  he  was  the  only  large 
bull  in  a  fine  herd  of  cows.  I  found  their  spoor 
while  walking  ahead  of  the  wagons,  and,  following 
it  up,  came  upon  a  part  of  the  herd  feeding  quietly 
in  a  dense  part  of  the  forest.  I  fired  my  first  shot 
at  a  cow,  which  I  wounded.  The  other  half  of 
the  herd  then  came  up  right  in  my  face,  within 
six  yards  of  me.  They  would  have  trampled  on 
me  if  I  had  not  sung  out  in  their  faces  and  turned 
them.  I  selected  the  old  bull,  and  sent  a  bullet 
into  his  shoulder.  The  herd  then  crashed  along 
through  the  jungle  to  my  right,  but  he  at  once 


244  THE  LION  HUNTER 

broke  away  from  them  and  took  to  my  left.  On 
examining  his  spoor,  I  found  it  bloody.  I  then 
went  to  meet  my  wagons,  which  I  heard  coming  on, 
and,  ordering  the  men  to  out-span,  took  all  my 
dogs  to  the  spoor.  They  ran  it  up  in  fine  style, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  the  silence  of  the  forest  was 
disturbed  by  a  tremendous  bay.  On  running 
toward  the  sound,  I  met  the  old  fellow  coming  on 
toward  the  wagons,  with  all  my  dogs  after  him. 
I  saluted  him  with  a  second  ball  in  the  shoulder; 
he  held  on  and  took  up  a  position  in  the  thicket 
within  forty  yards  of  the  wagons,  where  I  finished 
him.  He  carried  a  most  splendid  head. 

On  the  8th  of  June  we  made  the  long-wished- 
for  fair  Limpopo  an  hour  before  sunset.  I  was 
at  once  struck  with  this  most  interesting  river: 
the  trees  along  its  banks  were  of  prodigious  size 
and  very  great  beauty.  At  the  very  spot  where 
I  made  the  water,  a  huge  crocodile  lay  upon  the 
sand  on  the  opposite  side;  on  observing  me  he 
dashed  into  the  stream. 

The  next  day  I  rode  ahead  of  the  wagons  with 
Ruyter,  and  hunted  along  the  bank  of  the  river. 
I  immediately  shot  a  water-buck.  This  animal 
and  pallah  were  very  abundant.  As  I  advanced 
I  found  large  vleys  along  the  river  side,  a  favorite 
haunt  of  the  water-buck.  After  breakfast  I  again 
rode  forth  with  fresh  horses  with  my  Bushman. 


BUFFALOES  —  HIPPOPOTAMI      245 

We  still  found  water-buck  and  pallah  very 
abundant.  I  presently  gave  chase  to  a  herd  of 
the  former  to  try  their  speed;  but  as  they  led  me 
into  the  midst  of  a  labyrinth  of  marshy  vleys,  I 
gave  it  up. 

At  that  instant  the  Bushman  whispered,  "  Sir, 
sir ;  "  and  looking  to  my  right,  two  princely  old 
buffaloes  stood  in  the  jungle  within  forty  yards  of 
me.  They  got  my  wind,  and  started  before  I 
could  get  ready  to  fire.  They  held  along  the 
river  bank  ahead  of  me,  but  not  requiring  them  I 
did  not  give  chase.  After  this  I  came  upon  a 
huge  crocodile  basking  on  the  sand,  which  in- 
stantly dashed  into  the  stream.  I  now  got  into  a 
vast  labyrinth  of  marshes  of  great  extent.  Sev- 
eral species  of  wild  duck  and  a  variety  of  water- 
fowl were  extremely  abundant  and  very  tame, 
hundreds  passing  before  my  eyes  at  once;  guinea- 
fowl,  three  sorts  of  large  partridge,  and  two  kinds 
of  quail  being  likewise  numerous. 

I  presently  wounded  a  noble  old  water-buck  as 
he  dashed  past  me  in  marshy  ground.  In  follow- 
ing him  up  I  met  an  old  buck  pallah,  which  I  shot 
dead  on  the  spot  with  a  ball  in  the  middle  of  the 
breast.  Following  on  after  the  wounded  water- 
buck,  along  the  high  bank  of  the  river,  which  was, 
however,  concealed  from  my  view  by  the  dense 
cover,  I  suddenly  heard  a  loud  splash,  and,  com- 


246  THE  LION  HUNTER 

ing  suddenly  clear  of  the  cover,  beheld  the  lovely 
water-buck  standing  broadside  on  an  island  in 
the  middle  of  the  river.  Before  I  could  dismount 
to  fire,  he  dashed  into  the  water  and  swam  to  the 
opposite  bank.  I  grasped  my  trusty  little  Moore 
and  waited  till  he  won  the  terra  firma,  when  with 
one  well-directed  shot  I  dropped  him  on  the  spot. 

A  very  strange  thing  then  occurred;  the  buck, 
in  his  death-pangs,  slid  down  into  the  river,  and, 
continuing  his  struggles,  swam  half  way  across 
the  river  back  to  the  island,  where  he  lay  upon  a 
sand-bank.  I  then  divested  myself  of  my  leathers, 
spurs,  and  veldt-schoens,  and  was  wading  in  to 
fetch  him,  when  the  river  carried  him  off,  and, 
fearing  the  horrible  crocodiles,  I  did  not  attempt 
to  follow.  It  was  now  late,  and  I  rode  for  my 
wagon-spoor,  which  I  failed  to  find  until  I  had 
returned  to  where  we  had  that  morning  break- 
fasted. I  had  been  following  the  turns  of  the 
river,  and  the  wagons  had  taken  a  short  cut  across 
the  country.  I  reached  them  in  the  dark  by  great 
good  luck. 

On  the  10th  I  rode  ahead  of  my  wagons  at  day- 
dawn:  thick  mist  was  rolling  along  the  Limpopo. 
Presently  I  saw  two  crocodiles  in  the  stream  below 
me.  A  little  after  I  had  the  pleasure  to  find,  for 
the  first  time,  the  spoor  of  sea-cows  or  hippo- 
potami. I  had  never  before  seen  it,  but  I  knew  it 


BUFFALOES  —  HIPPOPOTAMI   247 

must  be  theirs ;  it  was  very  similar  to  the  spoor  of 
borele,  or  black  rhinoceros,  but  larger,  and  had 
four  toes  instead  of  three.  Before  returning  to 
my  wagons  I  tried  to  ride  down  a  water-buck, 
which  I  turned  off  from  the  river,  but  in  this  I 
failed,  though  I  managed  to  keep  close  to  him  in 
the  chase,  and  eventually  to  knock  him  up  along 
with  my  horse. 

I  again  sallied  forth  with  the  Bushman  and  fresh 
steeds,  and,  directing  the  wagons  to  take  the 
straight  course,  followed  the  windings  of  the  river. 
Presently,  looking  over  the  bank,  I  beheld  three 
enormous  crocodiles  basking  on  the  sand  on  the 
opposite  side.  I  was  astonished  at  their  awful 
appearance  and  size,  one  of  them  appearing  to  me 
to  be  sixteen  or  eighteen  feet  in  length,  with  a 
body  as  thick  as  that  of  an  ox.  On  observing 
us  they  plunged  into  the  dead  water  by  the  side 
of  the  stream.  The  next  minute,  one  of  them 
popping  up  his  terrible  head  in  the  middle  of  the 
stream,  I  made  a  beautiful  shot,  and  sent  a  ball 
through  the  middle  of  his  brains.  The  convul- 
sions of  death  which  followed  were  truly  awful. 
At  first  he  sank  for  an  instant  to  the  shot,  but, 
instantly  striking  the  bottom  with  his  tail,  he  shot 
up  above  the  water,  when  he  struggled  violently, 
sometimes  on  his  back  and  then  again  on  his  belly, 
with  at  one  time  his  head  and  fore  feet  above  the 


248  THE  LION  HUNTER 

water,  and  immediately  after  his  tail  and  hind 
legs,  the  former  lashing  the  water  with  a  force 
truly  astounding.  Clouds  of  sand  accompanied 
him  in  all  his  movements,  the  strong  stream  carry- 
ing him  along  with  it,  till  at  length  the  struggle 
of  death  was  over,  and  he  sank  to  rise  no  more. 

Following  the  windings  of  the  river,  I  detected  a 
small  crocodile  basking  on  the  sand,  when  I  gave 
him  a  shot,  and  he  instantly  plunged  into  the 
river.  A  little  further  on  I  wounded  a  third  as  he 
lay  on  a  promontory  of  sand,  and  he  likewise 
made  the  water.  A  little  further  down  the  stream, 
yet  another  crocodile,  a  huge  old  sinner,  lay  bask- 
ing on  the  sand.  I  determined  to  make  a  very 
correct  shot  in  this  case,  and  set  about  stalking 
him.  Creeping  up  behind  the  trunk  of  a  prostrate 
old  tree,  I  took  a  rest  and  sent  the  ball  into  his 
nostril,  when  he  plunged  into  the  river,  coloring 
the  water  with  his  blood. 

We  now  got  into  a  fine  green  turn  of  the  river, 
where  I  saw  a  great  many  water-bucks.  I  shot 
one  buck  pallah,  and  immediately  after  I  came 
suddenly  upon  a  troop  of  five  or  six  beautiful 
leopards.  At  the  next  bend  of  the  river  three 
huge  crocodiles  lay  on  the  sand  on  the  opposite 
side.  Stalking  within  easy  range,  I  shot  one  of 
them  in  the  head:  his  comrades  instantly  dashed 
into  the  water,  but  he  lay  as  if  dead  high  on  the 


BUFFALOES  —  HIPPOPOTAMI      249 

sand.  A  second  shot,  however,  through  the  ribs 
brought  him  back  to  life.  On  receiving  it,  he  kept 
running  round  and  round,  snapping  his  horrid 
jaws  fearfully  at  his  own  wounded  side.  In  the 
convulsions  of  death  he  made  one  run  clean  away 
from  the  water,  but  another  unlucky  turn  brought 
his  head  toward  the  river,  into  which  he  eventually 
rolled.  Galloping  along  from  this  place  to  my 
wagons,  I  came  suddenly  upon  a  lion  and  lioness 
lying  in  the  grass  below  a  gigantic  old  mimosa. 
Dismounting  from  my  horse,  I  took  a  couple  of 
shots  at  the  lion,  missing  him  with  my  first,  but 
wounding  him  with  my  second  shot,  when  he  rose 
with  several  angry  short  growls  and  bounded  off. 
A  few  hundred  yards  further  on  I  found  my 
wagons  drawn  up,  and  on  reaching  them  my  men 
informed  me  that  they  had  just  seen  two  huge 
hippopotami  in  the  river  beneath.  Proceeding  to 
the  spot,  we  found  them  still  swimming  there.  I 
shot  one,  putting  three  balls  into  his  head,  when 
he  sank,  but  night  setting  in  we  lost  him. 

At  dawn  of  day  on  the  12th  a  noise  was  heard 
for  about  twenty  minutes  up  the  river,  like  the 
sound  of  the  sea,  accompanied  by  the  lowing  of 
buffaloes.  It  was  a  herd  crossing  the  river.  I 
rode  thither  to  look  at  them,  and  was  retracing 
my  steps  to  camp,  when,  within  three  hundred 
yards  of  my  wagons,  I  beheld  an  old  bull  buffalo 


250  THE  LION  HUNTER 

standing  contemplating  my  camp,  with  my  fol- 
lowers looking  at  him  in  great  consternation. 
They  set  the  dogs  after  him,  when  he  took  away 
up  the  river.  As  the  ground  was  extremely  bad 
for  riding,  being  full  of  deep  holes,  and  all  con- 
cealed with  long  grass,  it  was  some  time  before  I 
could  get  away  after  the  dogs;  and  when  I  had 
ridden  a  short  distance,  I  met  them  all  returning, 
their  feet  being  completely  done  up  with  the  long 
march  from  the  colony. 

I  now  turned  my  face  once  more  for  camp, 
when  I  heard  one  of  my  dogs  at  bay  behind  me. 
Galloping  up  to  the  spot,  I  found  my  dog  "  Lion  " 
standing  barking  at  an  old  water-buck  in  an  open 
flat.  The  buck,  on  observing  me,  made  away  for 
the  river,  and,  joining  a  herd  of  does,  they  dashed 
into  the  stream,  and  were  immediately  upon  the 
opposite  bank.  I  was  in  a  sequestered  bend  of 
the  river,  where  the  banks  for  several  acres  were 
densely  clad  with  lofty  reeds  and  grass,  which 
towered  above  my  head  as  I  sat  on  my  horse's 
back.  Beyond  the  reeds  and  grass  were  trees  of 
all  sizes,  forming  a  dense  shade:  this  is  the  gen- 
eral character  of  the  banks  of  the  Limpopo,  as 
far  as  I  have  yet  seen. 

I  was  slowly  returning  to  my  camp,  in  any- 
thing but  good  humor  at  my  want  of  success  with 
the  game  I  had  just  been  after,  when,  behold,  an 


BUFFALOES  —  HIPPOPOTAMI      251 

antelope  of  the  most  exquisite  beauty,  and  ut- 
terly unknown  to  sportsmen  or  naturalists,  stood 
broadside  in  my  path,  looking  me  full  in  the  face. 
It  was  a  princely  old  buck  of  the  serolomootlooque 
of  the  Bakalahari,  or  bush-buck  of  the  Limpopo. 
He  carried  a  very  fine,  wide-set  pair  of  horns.  On 
beholding  him  I  was  struck  with  wonder  and  de- 
light. My  heart  beat  with  excitement.  I  sprang 
from  my  saddle,  but  before  I  could  fire  a  shot  this 
gem  of  beauty  bounded  into  the  reeds  and  was  lost 
to  my  sight.  At  that  moment  I  would  have  given 
half  what  I  possessed  in  this  world  for  a  broad- 
side at  that  lovely  antelope,  and  I  at  once  resolved 
not  to  proceed  further  on  my  expedition  until  I 
had  captured  him,  although  it  should  cost  me  the 
labor  of  a  month. 

The  antelope  having  entered  the  reeds,  I  gave 
my  horse  to  my  after-rider,  and  with  my  rifle  on 
full  cock  and  at  the  ready,  proceeded  to  stalk  with 
extreme  caution  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  cover;  but  I  stalked  in  vain;  the 
antelope  had  vanished,  and  was  nowhere  to  be 
found.  I  then  returned  to  my  steed,  and  rode 
slowly  up  the  river's  bank  toward  my  camp.  I 
had  ridden  to  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  the 
wagons,  and  was  meditating  how  I  should  best 
circumvent  the  serolomootlooque,  when  once  more 
this  lovely  antelope  crossed  my  path.  I  had  been 


252  THE  LION  HUNTER 

unwittingly  driving  him  before  me  along  the  bank 
of  the  river.  He  trotted  like  a  roebuck  into  the 
thick  cover,  and  then  stood  broadside  among  the 
thorn  bushes.  I  sprang  from  my  saddle,  and 
guessing  about  his  position,  I  fired  and  missed  him ; 
he  then  trotted  along  a  rhinoceros's  foot-path,  and 
gave  me  a  second  chance.  Again  I  fired,  and 
before  my  rifle  was  down  from  my  shoulder  the 
serolomootlooque  lay  prostrate  in  the  dust.  The 
ball  had  cut  the  skin  open  along  his  ribs,  and, 
entering  his  body,  had  passed  along  his  neck,  and 
had  lodged  in  his  brains,  where  we  found  it  on 
preparing  the  head  for  stuffing. 

I  was  not  a  little  gratified  at  my  good  fortune 
in  securing  this  novel  and  valuable  trophy;  he 
was  one  of  the  most  perfect  antelopes  I  had  ever 
beheld,  both  in  symmetry  and  color.  I  had  him 
immediately  conveyed  to  camp,  where  I  took  his 
measurement,  and  wrote  out  a  correct  description 
of  him  for  the  benefit  of  naturalists.  I  christened 
him  the  "  Antelopus  Ronaleynei,"  or  "  bush-buck 
of  the  Limpopo." 

The  next  day  I  breakfasted  before  the  sun 
rose,  and  then  rode  down  the  river's  bank  with 
Ruyter.  I  first  shot  an  old  buck  pallah,  and, 
having  ridden  a  few  miles  further,  came  upon  two 
fine  old  water-bucks  fighting,  when  I  stalked  in 
within  a  hundred  yards,  and  shot  them  both  right 


BUFFALOES  —  HIPPOPOTAMI   253 

and  left.  The  heads  were  fair  specimens,  but,  hav- 
ing many  better,  I  reluctantly  left  them  to  perish  in 
the  veldt.  Hereabouts  I  found  fresh  spoor  of 
hippopotami  of  the  preceding  night.  I  followed 
this  spoor  to  a  considerable  distance  along  the 
margin  of  the  river,  and  at  last  came  upon  the 
troop.  They  were  lying  in  a  shady,  sequestered 
bend  of  the  river,  beneath  some  gigantic  shady 
trees.  In  this  place  the  water  in  heavy  floods 
had  thrown  up  large  banks  of  sand,  in  which  they 
had  hollowed  out  their  beds.  The  spot  was  sur- 
rounded with  dense  underwood  and  reeds,  and  was 
adjacent  to  a  very  deep  and  broad  stream,  into 
which  their  foot-paths  led  in  every  direction. 

I  was  first  apprised  of  my  proximity  to  them 
by  a  loud  cry  from  one  old  bull,  who  took  alarm  at 
the  sudden  flight  of  a  species  of  heron;  his  cry 
was  not  unlike  that  of  an  elephant.  He  stood 
in  water  which  reached  half  way  up  his  side,  shak- 
ing his  short  ears  in  the  sun;  every  half  minute 
he  disappeared  beneath  the  water,  when,  again 
parading  half  of  his  body,  he  uttered  a  loud 
snorting,  blowing  noise.  On  observing  him,  I 
dismounted,  and  every  time  he  disappeared  I  ran 
in,  until  I  stood  behind  the  tall  reeds  within 
twenty  yards  of  him.  Here  I  might  have  dropped 
him  with  a  single  ball,  but  I  unfortunately  made 
up  my  mind  not  to  molest  them  until  next  day, 


254  THE  LION  HUNTER 

when  I  should  have  men  to  assist  me  to  get  them 
out.  Presently  he  observed  me,  when  he  dived, 
and  swam  round  a  shady  promontory  into  the 
deep  stream,  where  he  and  his  comrades  kept  up 
a  continual  loud  blowing  noise.  I  returned  to 
camp,  and,  having  ordered  my  men  to  inspan,  I 
tried  a  drift  on  horseback,  and  crossed  the  Lim- 
popo, but,  the  water  coming  over  my  saddle,  I 
did  not  attempt  to  bring  through  my  wagons. 
We  accordingly  held  on  our  course  on  the  north- 
western bank  of  the  river,  and  outspanned  about 
a  mile  above  the  place  where  I  had  found  the 
hippopotami. 

When  the  sun  went  down  the  sea-cows  com- 
menced a  march  up  the  river.  They  passed  along 
opposite  to  my  camp,  making  the  most  extraordi- 
nary sounds  of  blowing,  snorting,  and  roaring, 
sometimes  crashing  through  the  reeds,  and  some- 
times swimming  gently,  and  splashing  and  sporting 
through  the  water.  There  being  a  little  moon- 
light, I  went  down  with  my  man  Carey,  and  sat 
some  time  on  the  river's  bank  contemplating  these 
wonderful  monsters  of  the  river.  It  was  a  truly 
grand  and  very  extraordinary  scene;  the  oppo- 
site bank  of  the  stream  was  dad  with  trees  of 
gigantic  size  and  great  beauty,  which  added 
greatly  to  the  interest  of  the  picture. 

On  the  14th,  after  a  very  early  breakfast,  I 


BUFFALOES  —  HIPPOPOTAMI      255 

proceeded  with  three  after-riders,  two  double- 
barreled  rifles,  and  about  a  hundred  rounds  of 
ammunition,  to  the  spot  where  I  had  yesterday 
found  the  hippopotami;  but  they  had  taken 
alarm,  and  were  all  gone.  The  spoor  leading  up 
the  river,  I  rode  along  the  banks,  examining  every 
pool  until  my  steed  was  quite  knocked  up,  but 
found  not  a  single  sea-cow.  The  spoor  still  led 
up  the  river;  they  had  made  short  cuts  at  every 
bend,  sometimes  taking  the  direct  line  on  my  side, 
and  sometimes  on  the  other.  Finding  that  I  must 
sleep  in  the  veldt  if  I  followed  on,  I  dispatched 
Ruyter  to  camp  for  my  blankets,  coffee-kettle,  bis- 
cuit, &c.,  and  fresh  steeds.  I  searched  on  foot, 
and  penetrated  every  thicket  and  every  dense 
jungle  of  reeds  that  overhung  the  river,  until  at 
last,  faint  with  hunger  and  fatigue,  I  sought  some 
game  on  which  to  make  a  luncheon,  and  had  the 
good  fortune  to  fall  in  with  a  young  doe  of  the 
"  Antelopus  Ronaleynei,"  which  I  shot,  and  in  a 
few  minutes  she  was  roasting  on  a  mighty  fire.  " 
Ruyter,  at  this  moment  coming  up,  brought  a 
welcome  supply  of  biscuit  and  coffee,  and  reported 
my  yellow  horse  "  Flux,"  about  my  very  best,  to 
have  died  of  horse-sickness.  After  luncheon  I 
continued  my  search  for  hippopotami,  and  just 
as  the  sun  went  down  I  started  an  old  fellow  from 
beneath  some  tall  reeds,  which  hung  over  a  deep 


256  THE  LION  HUNTER 

broad  pool.  On  hearing  me  approach  he  dived 
with  a  loud  splash,  and  immediately  reappeared 
with  a  blowing  noise  a  little  further  up  the  river 
and  within  twenty  yards  of  the  bank.  Having 
looked  about  him,  he  again  dived,  and  continued 
his  course  up  the  river,  which  could  be  traced  from 
the  wave  above.  I  ran  in  front  of  him,  and  when 
he  came  up  the  third  time  I  was  standing  opposite 
to  him,  ready  with  my  rifle  at  my  shoulder.  I  sent 
the  bullet  into  his  brain,  when  he  floundered  for 
one  moment  at  the  surface,  and  then  sank  to  the 
bottom.  There  he  most  probably  only  remained 
for  half  an  hour;  but  in  a  few  minutes  night  set 
in,  and  I  had  thus  the  extreme  mortification  to 
lose  my  hippopotamus,  the  second  one  which  I 
had  shot. 

We  slept  beneath  a  shady  tree;  at  midnight  a 
few  drops  of  rain  fell,  and  I  feared  a  drenching; 
it,  however,  passed  away.  In  the  course  of  the 
day  we  saw  several  very  large  crocodiles,  three  of 
which  I  shot.  One  of  these  lay  upon  an  island; 
I  shot  him  dead  on  the  spot;  he  did  not  gain 
the  water. 

On  the  17th  of  June,  having  found  a  good 
drift,  I  crossed  the  Limpopo  with  my  wagons,  and 
drew  them  up  in  a  green  and  shady  spot.  I  then 
rode  a  long  way  down  the  eastern  bank  in  quest 
of  hippopotami,  and  late  in  the  evening  I  found 


BUFFALOES  —  HIPPOPOTAMI      257 

one,  which  I  did  not  molest,  trusting  to  find  him 
next  day. 

On  the  18th  a  dense  mist  hung  over  the  river 
all  the  morning.  Ordering  the  wagons  to  follow 
in  an  hour,  I  rode  ahead  to  seek  the  sea-cow  of 
the  previous  night,  but  after  a  long  search  I  gave 
it  up  as  a  bad  job,  and,  kindling  a  fire  to  warm 
myself,  awaited  the  wagons,  which  presently  came 
up.  Here  I  halted  for  two  hours,  and  then  once 
more  rode  ahead  to  seek  hippopotami.  The  river 
became  more  promising  for  sea-cow.  At  every 
turn  there  occurred  deep,  still  pools,  with  occa- 
sional sandy  islands  densely  clad  with  lofty  reeds, 
and  with  banks  covered  with  reeds  to  a  breadth 
of  thirty  yards.  Above  and  beyond  these  reeds 
stood  trees  of  immense  age  and  gigantic  size,  be- 
neath which  grew  a  long  and  very  rank  description 
of  grass,  on  which  the  sea-cow  delights  to  pasture. 

I  soon  found  fresh  spoor,  and  after  holding  on 
for  several  miles,  just  as  the  sun  was  going  down, 
and  as  I  entered  a  dense  reed  cover,  I  came  upon 
the  fresh  lairs  of  four  hippopotami.  They  had 
been  lying  sleeping  on  the  margin  of  the  river, 
and,  on  hearing  me  come  crackling  through  the 
reeds,  had  plunged  into  the  deep  water.  I  at 
once  ascertained  that  they  were  newly  started, 
for  the  froth  and  bubbles  were  still  on  the  spot 
where  they  had  plunged  in.  Next  moment  I  heard 


258  THE  LION  HUNTER 

them  blowing  a  little  way  down  the  river.  I  then 
headed  them,  and,  with  considerable  difficulty, 
owing  to  the  cover  and  the  reeds,  at  length  came 
right  down  above  where  they  were  standing.  It 
was  a  broad  part  of  the  river,  with  a  sandy  bottom, 
and  the  water  came  half  way  up  their  sides.  There 
were  four  of  them,  three  cows  and  an  old  bull; 
they  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  river,  and,  though 
alarmed,  did  not  appear  aware  of  the  extent  of 
the  impending  danger. 

I  took  the  sea-cow  next  me,  and  with  my  first 
ball  I  gave  her  a  mortal  wound,  knocking  loose  a 
great  plate  on  the  top  of  her  skull.  She  at  once 
commenced  plunging  round  and  round,  and  then 
occasionally  remained  quiet,  sitting  for  a  few  min- 
utes on  the  same  spot.  On  hearing  the  report  of 
my  rifle  two  of  the  others  took  up  stream,  and 
the  fourth  dashed  down  the  river;  they  trotted 
along,  like  oxen,  at  a  smart  pace  as  long  as  the 
water  was  shallow. 

I  was  now  in  a  state  of  very  great  anxiety  about 
my  wounded  sea-cow,  for  I  feared  that  she  would 
get  down  into  deep  water,  and  be  lost  like  the  last 
one;  her  struggles  were  still  carrying  her  down 
stream,  and  the  water  was  becoming  deeper.  To 
settle  the  matter,  I  accordingly  fired  a  second 
shot  from  the  bank,  which,  entering  the  roof  of  her 
skull,  passed  out  through  her  eye;  she  then  kept 


BUFFALOES  —  HIPPOPOTAMI   259 

continually  splashing  round  and  round  in  a  circle 
in  the  middle  of  the  river.  I  had  great  fears  of 
the  crocodiles,  and  did  not  know  that  the  sea- 
cow  might  not  attack  me.  My  anxiety  to  secure 
her,  however,  overcame  all  hesitation ;  so,  divesting 
myself  of  my  leathers,  and  armed  with  a  sharp 
knife,  I  dashed  into  the  water,  which  at  first  took 
me  up  to  my  arm-pits,  but  in  the  middle  was 
shallower. 

As  I  approached  Behemoth  her  eye  looked  very 
wicked.  I  halted  for  a  moment,  ready  to  dive 
under  the  water  if  she  attacked  me;  but  she  was 
stunned,  and  did  not  know  what  she  was  doing ;  so, 
running  in  upon  her,  and  seizing  her  short  tail, 
I  attempted  to  incline  her  course  to  land.  It  was 
extraordinary  what  enormous  strength  she  still 
had  in  the  water.  I  could  not  guide  her  in  the 
slightest,  and  she  continued  to  splash,  and  plunge, 
and  blow,  and  make  her  circular  course,  carrying 
me  along  with  her  as  if  I  was  a  fly  on  her  tail. 
Finding  her  tail  gave  me  but  a  poor  hold,  as  the 
only  means  of  securing  my  prey,  I  took  out  my 
knife  and  cut  two  deep  parallel  incisions  through 
the  skin  on  her  rump.  Lifting  this  skin  from  the 
flesh  so  that  I  could  get  in  my  two  hands,  I  made 
use  of  this  as  a  handle;  and  after  some  desperate 
hard  work,  sometimes  pushing  and  sometimes  pull- 
ing, the  sea-cow  continuing  her  circular  course 


260  THE  LION  HUNTER 

all  the  time,  and  I  holding  on  at  her  rump  like 
grim  Death,  eventually  I  succeeded  in  bringing 
this  gigantic  and  most  powerful  animal  to  the 
bank.  Here  the  Bushman  quickly  brought  me  a 
stout  buffalo  rheim  from  my  horse's  neck,  which 
I  passed  through  the  opening  in  the  thick  skin, 
and  moored  Behemoth  to  a  tree.  I  then  took  my 
rifle  and  sent  a  ball  through  the  center  of  her  head, 
and  she  was  numbered  with  the  dead. 

At  this  moment  my  wagons  came  up  within  a 
few  hundred  yards  of  the  spot,  where  I  out- 
spanned,  and  by  moonlight  we  took  down  a  span 
of  select  oxen  and  a  pair  of  rheim  chains,  and 
succeeded  in  dragging  the  sea-cow  high  and  dry. 
We  were  all  astonished  at  her  enormous  size;  she 
appeared  to  be  about  five  feet  broad  across  the 
belly.  I  could  see  much  beauty  in  the  animal, 
which  Nature  has  admirably  formed  for  the  am- 
phibious life  it  was  destined  to  pursue.  .  .  . 


CHAPTER  IX 

HIPPOPOTAMI ELEPHANTS LIONS 

1RODE  forth  at  sunrise  on  the  28th,  ordering 
my  wagons  to  follow  in  two  hours.  Seleka 
had  sent  men  down  the  river,  before  it  was 
clear,  to  seek  sea-cows;  and  they  soon  came  run- 
ning after  me  to  say  that  they  had  found  some.  I 
accordingly  followed  them  to  the  river,  where,  in 
a  long,  broad,  and  deep  bend,  were  four  hippo- 
potami, two  full-grown  cows,  a  small  cow,  and  a 
calf.  At  the  tail  of  this  pool  was  a  strong  and 
rapid  stream,  which  thundered  along  in  Highland 
fashion  over  large  masses  of  dark  rock. 

On  coming  to  the  shady  bank,  I  could  at  first 
only  see  one  old  cow  and  calf.  When  they  dived 
I  ran  into  the  reeds,  and  as  the  cow  came  up  I 
shot  her  in  the  head ;  she,  however,  got  away  down 
the  river,  and  I  lost  her.  The  other  three  took 
away  up  the  river,  and  became  very  shy,  remaining 
under  the  water  for  five  minutes  at  a  time,  and 
then  only  popping  their  heads  up  for  a  few  seconds. 
I  accordingly  remained  quiet  behind  the  reeds,  in 
hope  of  their  dismissing  their  alarms.  Presently 
201 


262  THE  LION  HUNTER 

the  two  smaller  ones  see'med  to  be  no  longer 
alarmed,  popping  up  their  entire  heads,  and  re- 
maining above  water  for  a  minute  at  a  time;  but 
the  third,  which  was  by  far  the  largest,  and  which 
I  thought  must  be  a  bull,  continued  extremely 
shy,  remaining  under  the  water  for  ten  minutes  at 
a  time,  and  then  just  showing  her  face  for  a 
second,  making  a  blowing  like  a  whale,  and  re- 
turning to  the  bottom. 

I  stood  there  with  rifle  at  my  shoulder,  and 
my  eye  on  the  sight,  until  I  was  quite  tired.  I 
thought  I  should  never  get  a  chance  at  her,  and 
had  just  resolved  to  fire  at  one  of  the  smaller 
ones,  when  she  shoved  up  half  her  head  and  looked 
about  her.  I  made  a  correct  shot;  the  ball 
cracked  loudly  below  her  ear,  and  the  huge  body 
of  the  sea-cow  came  floundering  to  the  top.  I  was 
enchanted;  she  could  not  escape.  Though  not 
dead,  she  had  lost  her  senses,  and  continued  swim- 
ming round  and  round,  sometimes  beneath  and 
sometimes  at  the  surface  of  the  water,  creating  a 
fearful  commotion. 

Hearing  my  wagons  coming  on,  I  sent  a  mes- 
sage to  my  followers  to  outspan,  and  to  come  and 
behold  Behemoth  floundering  in  her  native  ele- 
ment. When  they  came  up  I  finished  her  with  a 
shot  in  the  neck,  upon  which  she  instantly  sank 
to  the  bottom,  and  disappeared  in  the  strong  rapid 


ELEPHANTS  —  LIONS  263 

torrent  at  the  tail  of  the  sea-cow  hole.  There  she 
remained  for  a  long  time,  and  I  thought  that  I  had 
lost  her,  but  the  natives  said  that  she  would  soon  re- 
appear. Being  in  want  of  refreshment,  I  left  my 
people  to  watch  for  the  resurrection  of  Behemoth, 
and  I  held  to  the  wagons  to  feed.  While  taking 
my  breakfast,  there  was  a  loud  hue  and  cry  among 
the  natives  that  the  kooboo  had  floated  and  was 
sailing  down  the  river.  It  was  so,  and  my  Hotten- 
tots swam  in  and  brought  her  to  the  bank.  Her, 
flesh  proved  most  excellent.  In  the  afternoon  I 
rode  down  the  river  accompanied  by  Ruyter,  and 
shot  one  very  splendid  old  water-buck,  with  a 
princely  head,  which  I  kept. 

The  next  day,  after  proceeding  a  few  miles,  I 
killed  a  very  fine  buck  of  the  serolomootlooque.  I 
again  rode  down  the  river's  bank,  with  two  after- 
riders,  to  seek  hippopotami,  the  natives  reporting 
that  they  were  to  be  found  in  a  pool  in  advance, 
where  another  river  joined  the  Limpopo.  After 
riding  a  short  distance,  I  found  the  banks  unusu- 
ally green  and  shady,  and  very  much  frequented 
by  the  sea-cow;  and  presently,  in  a  broad,  deep, 
and  long  still  bend  of  the  river,  I  disturbed  the 
game  I  sought. 

They  were  lying  in  their  sandy  beds  among  the 
rank  reeds  at  the  river's  margin,  and  on  hearing 
me  galloping  over  the  gravelly  shingle  between  the 


264  THE  LION  HUNTER 

bank  and  the  reeds,  the  deposit  of  some  great 
flood,  they  plunged  into  their  native  strong-hold 
in  dire  alarm,  and  commenced  blowing,  snorting,, 
and  uttering  a  sound  very  similar  to  that  made  by 
the  musical  instrument  called  a  serpent.  It  was 
a  fairish  place  for  an  attack;  so,  divesting  my- 
self of  my  leather  trousers,  I  ordered  my  after- 
riders  to  remain  utterly  silent,  and  then  crept  cau- 
tiously forward,  determined  not  to  fire  a  shot  until 
I  had  thoroughly  overhauled  the  herd  to  see  if  it 
did  not  contain  a  bull,  and  at  all  events  to  secure, 
if  possible,  the  very  finest  head  among  them. 

The  herd  consisted  of  about  fourteen  hippopot- 
ami; ten  of  these  were  a  little  further  down  the 
stream  than  the  other  four.  Having  carefully  ex- 
amined these  ten,  I  made  out  two  particular  hip- 
popotami decidedly  larger  than  all  the  others.  I 
then  crept  a  little  distance  up  the  river  behind  the 
reeds,  to  obtain  a  view  of  the  others.  They  were 
two  enormous  old  cows,  with  two  large  calves  be- 
side them.  The  old  ones  had  exactly  the  same 
size  of  head  as  the  two  best  cows  below ;  I  accord- 
ingly chose  what  I  thought  the  best  of  these  two, 
and,  making  a  fine  shot  at  the  side  of  her  head,  at 
once  disabled  her.  She  disappeared  for  a  few 
seconds,  and  then  came  floundering  to  the  surface, 
and  continued  swimming  round  and  round,  some- 
times diving,  and  then  reappearing  with  a  loud 


ELEPHANTS  —  LIONS  265 

splash  and  a  blowing  noise,  always  getting  slowly 
down  the  river,  until  I  reattacked  and  finished 
her  a  quarter  of  a  mile  further  down,  about  an 
hour  after.  The  other  sea-cows  were  now  greatly 
alarmed,  and  only  occasionally  put  up  their  heads, 
showing  but  a  small  part,  remaining  but  a  few 
seconds  at  a  time.  I,  however,  managed  to  select 
one  of  the  three  remaining  ones,  and,  making  a 
most  perfect  shot,  sent  a  bullet  crashing  into  her 
brain.  This  caused  instantaneous  death,  and  she 
sank  to  the  bottom.  I  then  wounded  two  more 
sea-cows  in  the  head,  both  of  which  I  lost.  The 
others  were  so  alarmed  and  cunning  that  it  was 
impossible  to  do  anything  with  them. 

The  one  I  had  first  shot  was  now  resting  with 
half  her  body  above  water  on  a  sand-bank  in  the 
Limpopo,  at  the  mouth  of  the  other  river  Lepalala, 
which  was  broad,  clear,  and  rapid.  From  this 
resting-place  I  started  her  with  one  shot  in  the 
shoulder  and  another  in  the  side  of  the  head ;  this 
last  shot  set  her  in  motion  once  more,  and  she  com- 
menced struggling  in  the  water  in  the  most  ex- 
traordinary manner,  disappearing  for  a  few  sec- 
onds, and  then  coming  up  like  a  great  whale,  set- 
ting the  whole  river  in  an  uproar.  Presently  she 
took  away  down  the  stream,  holding  to  the  other 
side;  but,  again  returning,  I  finished  her  with  a 
shot  in  the  middle  of  the  forehead.  This  proved 


266  THE  LION  HUNTER 

a  most  magnificent  specimen  of  the  female  of  the 
wondrous  hippopotamus,  an  animal  with  which  I 
was  extremely  surprised  and  delighted.  She  far 
surpassed  the  brightest  conceptions  I  had  formed 
of  her,  being  a  larger,  a  more  lively,  and  in  every 
way  a  more  interesting  animal  than  certain  writ- 
ers had  led  me  to  expect.  On  securing  this  fine 
sea-cow,  I  immediately  cut  off  her  head  and  placed 
it  high  and  dry:  this  was  a  work  of  considerable 
difficulty  for  four  men.  We  left  her  body  in  the 
water,  being,  of  course,  unable  to  do  any  thing 
with  it  there.  It  was  well  I  secured  the  head  when 
I  did,  for  next  morning  the  crocodiles  had  dragged 
her  away. 

I  held  up  the  river  to  see  what  the  other  sea- 
cows  were  doing,  when,  to  my  particular  satisfac- 
tion, I  beheld  the  body  of  the  other  huge  sea-cow 
which  I  had  shot  in  the  brain  floating  in  the  pool 
where  I  had  shot  her,  and  stationary  within  about 
twenty  yards  of  the  other  side.  I  then  held  down 
the  river  to  the  tail  of  the  pool,  where  the  stream 
was  broad  and  rapid,  and  less  likely  to  hold  croco- 
diles, and  here,  although  cold  and  worn  out,  I  swam 
across  to  secure  my  game.  The  wagons  now  came 
up,  and  two  of  my  Hottentots  swam  over  to  my 
assistance;  but,  just  as  we  were  going  in  to  secure 
the  sea-cow,  she  became  disengaged  from  the  in- 
visible fetters  that  had  held  her,  and  which  turned 


ELEPHANTS  —  LIONS  267 

i 

out  to  be  the  branch  of  a  gigantic  old  tree  that 
some  flood  had  lodged  in  the  bottom  of  the  pool. 
The  sea-cow  now  floated  down  the  middle  of  the 
river;  when  she  neared  the  tail  of  the  pool,  we 
swam  in  and  inclined  her  course  to  shore,  and 
stranded  her  on  a  fine  gravel  bank. 

This  truly  magnificent  specimen  was  just  about 
the  same  size  as  the  first,  and  apparently  older, 
but  her  teeth  were  not  quite  so  thick.  Ordering 
the  natives  at  once  to  cut  off  her  huge  head,  and 
having  seen  it  deposited  safely  on  the  bank  along 
with  that  of  her  comrade,  I  held  for  my  wagons, 
having  to  cross  the  Lepalala  to  reach  them.  I 
was  very  cold  and  worn  out,  but  most  highly  grati- 
fied at  my  good  fortune  in  first  killing,  and  then  in 
securing,  two  out  of  the  four  best  sea-cows  in  a 
herd  of  fourteen. 

On  the  1st  of  July  I  inspanned  at  sunrise  and 
marched  to  the  town  of  the  Baseleka,  which  I 
reached  in  about  four  hours,  having  crossed  the 
Lepalala  on  the  way.  I  outspanned  on  the  bank 
of  the  river.  Seleka's  town  is  built  on  the  top  and 
sides  of  a  steep  and  precipitous  white  quartz  rock, 
which  rises  abruptly,  and  forms  a  very  remarkable 
feature  in  the  green  forest  scenery  which  sur- 
rounds it.  In  the  evening  Seleka  brought  down 
four  fairish  bull  elephant's  teeth,  which  I  bought 
for  four  muskets. 


268  THE  LION  HUNTER 

On  the  morrow  I  took  an  early  breakfast,  and 
then  held  east  with  Seleka  and  about  a  hundred 
and  fifty  of  his  men  to  seek  elephants,  they  having 
heard  from  the  Bakalahari  of  the  position  of  a 
troop  of  bulls.  This  day  I  might  reckon  as  the 
beginning  of  my  elephant  hunting  this  season. 
As  the  country  appeared  to  me  well  adapted  for 
the  sport,  and  as  I  regretted  not  a  little  that  my 
men  and  a  good  stud  of  horses  should  be  idle  at 
the  wagons  while  they  might  be  bringing  me  in 
fifty  pounds  once  or  twice  a  week,  I  armed  and 
mounted  John  Stofolus  and  Carey,  both  of  whom 
vaunted  much  of  their  courage  and  skill.  I  in- 
structed them,  in  the  event  of  our  finding,  to  se- 
lect a  good  elephant,  and,  if  not  able  to  kill  him, 
at  least  to  hold  him  in  view  until  I  had  finished 
mine,  which  I  promised  to  do  as  quickly  as  possi- 
ble, and  then  to  come  to  their  assistance. 

We  had  not  proceeded  far  from  the  white  rock 
when  we  entered  a  forest  frequented  by  elephants,, 
and  we  very  soon  came  upon  the  fresh  spoor  of 
a  troop  of  about  ten  fine  bulls.  The  spooring  was- 
conducted  very  properly,  the  old  chief  taking  the 
greatest  care  of  the  wind,  keeping  his  followers 
far  back,  and  maintaining  silence,  extending  pick- 
ets in  advance,  and  to  the  right  and  left,  and  or- 
dering them  to  ascend  to  the  summits  of  the  tallest 
trees  to  obtain  a  correct  view  of  the  surrounding; 


ELEPHANTS  —  LIONS  269 

forest.  Presently  the  mighty  game  was  detected. 
Old  Schwartland  was  led  alongside  of  me,  and  my 
dogs  were  all  in  couples,  eight  in  number.  I 
quickly  mounted,  and,  riding  slowly  forward,  ob- 
tained a  blink  of  one  of  the  elephants.  I  called  to 
the  natives  to  slip  the  dogs,  and  then  dashed  for- 
ward for  a  selection. 

I  chose  the  last,  and  gave  him  a  shot  as  he 
passed  me;  and  then,  riding  hard  under  his  stern, 
I  yelled  like  a  demon  to  clear  him  from  his  com- 
rades and  to  bring  the  dogs  to  my  assistance. 
The  dogs  came  as  I  expected  to  my  elephant,  and 
I  shot  him  from  the  saddle  in  a  business-like  style, 
loading  and  firing  with  great  rapidity ;  he  took 
from  fifteen  to  twenty  shots  before  he  fell.  All 
this  time  I  listened  in  vain  for  shots  from  John  or 
Carey.  The  former  did  not  even  consider  himself 
safe  in  the  same  forest  with  the  elephants,  and 
had  slunk  away  from  Carey  while  in  sight  of  a 
splendid  bull;  nor  did  we  hear  more  of  him  that 
day.  Carey  did  but  little  better,  for  he  lost  his 
elephant  immediately,  one  charge  being  sufficient. 

The  natives  were  now  fighting  with  an  immense 
old  bull:  hearing  them,  I  rode  in  their  direction, 
and  came  upon  Carey  stationary  in  the  forest. 
Here  the  dogs  took  up  the  scent  of  an  elephant, 
and  I  followed  them,  but  they  eventually  dropped 
it.  I  then  tried  to  retrace  my  steps  to  the  dead 


270  THE  LION  HUNTER 

elephant,  which  I  did  by  chance,  having  lost  my 
way  in  the  level  boundless  jungle  and  wandered 
far.  I  found  a  few  natives,  who  reported  their 
captain  and  most  of  his  men  to  be  still  engaged 
with  the  elephant,  and  they  said  that  Carey  had 
joined  them  in  the  chase.  I  off-saddled  for  a  little, 
but,  hearing  the  cries  of  the  natives  in  the  dis- 
tance, I  saddled  old  Schwartland,  and  rode  onward 
till  I  found  the  natives  and  Carey  quite  done  up, 
and  on  the  point  of  dropping  the  game.  The  ele- 
phant, although  red  with  blood,  and  resembling  a 
porcupine  by  the  number  of  the  assagais,  was  little 
the  worse  for  all  that  he  had  received.  I  then 
attacked  him,  and,  with  eight  or  ten  shots,  ended 
his  career. 

Next  morning,  Balcalahari  coming  up  and  re- 
porting to  have  heard  elephants  during  the  night, 
old  Seleka  and  I  went  in  quest  of  them.  We  were 
joined  by  the  gallant  and  vaunting  John  Stofolus, 
who  had  slept  at  the  wagons,  and  swore  that  he 
had  lost  his  way  in  a  long  chase  after  an  elephant. 
Both  he  and  Carey  expressing  regret  for  their 
previous  mismanagement,  and  vowing  to  prove 
themselves  men  this  day,  I  allowed  them  to  ac- 
company me.  We  soon  took  up  the  spoor  of  one 
old  bull,  which  led  us  into  a  forest  thoroughly 
plowed  up  and  broken  with  bull  elephants.  Here 
this  fine  fellow  joined  a  glorious  squadron  of  from 


ELEPHANTS  —  LIONS  271 

twenty  to  thirty  mighty  bulls.  When  we  discov- 
ered their  position  I  dashed  forward,  shouting  to 
the  dogs,  and  was  instantly  in  the  middle  of  them. 
Then  followed  a  wondrous  scene.  The  elephants, 
panic-stricken,  charged  forward,  leveling  the  for- 
est before  them,  trumpeting,  with  trunks  and  tails 
aloft,  as  the  dogs  mingled  with  them. 

Looking  back  over  my  shoulder,  I  beheld  ele- 
phants come  crashing  on  behind  and  within  a  few 
yards  of  me.  I  then  pressed  forward,  overtook 
about  ten  bulls  that  were  inclining  to  the  west,  rode 
under  their  sterns,  chose  the  best,  and,  yelling  at 
the  top  of  my  voice,  separated  him  from  his  com- 
rades, and  brought  my  dogs  to  my  assistance. 
In  a  few  minutes  he  had  many  mortal  wounds. 
Not  hearing  my  trusty  John  and  Carey  fire,  and 
the  elephant's  course  being  right  toward  camp,  I 
ceased  firing  and  drove  him  on  before  me.  Pres- 
ently these  worthies  came  up  to  me,  having  been 
after  a  most  splendid  bull  —  the  cock  of  the  troop 
—  which  I,  in  my  haste,  had  ridden  by.  They 
had  fired  two  or  three  shots,  and  then  left  him. 
I  now  saw  that  all  my  hunting  this  season  must 
depend  on  my  own  single  hand,  as  my  followers,  in- 
stead of  a  help,  were  a  very  great  hindrance  and 
annoyance  to  me.  If  I  had  been  alone  that  day 
I  should  most  certainly  have  taken  more  time,  and 
have  selected  the  elephant  they  had  lost,  which 


272  THE  LION  HUNTER 

the  natives  said  carried  extremely  large  and  long 
teeth.  Presently,  my  elephant  declining  to  pro- 
ceed further,  and  becoming  extremely  wicked,  I 
recommenced  firing,  and  at  last  he  fell,  having 
received  twenty-nine  balls,  twenty-seven  of  these 
being  in  a  very  correct  part.  This  was  an  enor- 
mous, first-rate  bull;  but  his  teeth,  though  large, 
being  not  the  best  in  the  troop,  I  felt  very  much 
dissatisfied. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  5th  I  traded  with  Seleka 
for  karosses  of  pallah's  skin  and  tusks  of  ele- 
phants, and  in  the  evening  I  walked  up  to  inspect 
the  town,  and  climbed  to  the  summit  of  the  quartz 
rock  on  which  the  citadel  of  Seleka  is  situated. 
Here  I  viewed  the  surrounding  country ;  chains  of 
mountains  of  moderate  height  shot  above  the  level 
forest  in  every  direction,  but  mostly  to  the  east  and 
south. 

The  next  day,  after  breakfast,  I  saddled  up 
steeds  and  took  the  field  for  elephants,  accom- 
panied by  two  after-riders.  We  were  soon  joined 
by  the  greater  part  of  the  Seleka  tribe,  and  held 
about  south,  following  the  bank  of  the  River  Le- 
palala,  which  we  eventually  crossed.  Having  pro- 
ceeded some  distance  through  a  tract  but  little 
frequented  by  elephants,  men  who  had  been  sent 
to  seek  in  a  southwesterly  direction  came  and  re- 
ported that  they  had  found  some.  We  then  held 


ELEPHANTS  —  LIONS  273 

at  once  for  a  steep  and  very  rocky  hill  which  rose 
abruptly  in  the  forest,  and  on  the  west  side  of 
which  the  elephants  had  been  seen. 

We  had  ascended  about  half  way  up  this  hill, 
the  natives  following  on  in  a  long  string  and  de- 
tached parties,  when  we  discovered  that  we  had 
nearly  hemmed  in  a  huge  and  most  daring  old  lion, 
with  his  partner  and  a  troop  of  very  small  cubs. 
I  had  passed  him  within  about  sixty  yards,  and  was 
a  little  above  him  on  the  hill  before  I  was  aware  of 
his  presence.  He  gave  us  notice  of  his  proximity 
by  loud  and  continued  growling,  advancing  boldly 
with  open  jaws  toward  the  natives.  These  fled 
before  him;  and  the  lioness  having  now  shrunk 
away  with  her  cubs,  and  some  of  our  dogs  having 
attacked  him,  he  turned  right  about  and  followed 
slowly  after  his  mate,  growling  fearfully. 

We  feared  that  all  this  noise  might  have  startled 
the  elephants:  when,  however,  we  had  gained  a 
commanding  point  on  the  shoulder  of  the  hill,  we 
could  see  them  standing  in  a  thick  low  forest  a 
short  distance  from  the  base  of  the  hill:  it  was 
a  troop  of  very  middling  cow  elephants,  with  a 
number  of  calves  of  all  sizes.  About  half  a  mile  to 
the  north  we  could  see  another  troop  of  cows. 
I  wished  to  attack  these,  but  the  natives  prevailed 
upon  me  to  attack  the  nearest  troop.  Leaving 
the  greater  part  of  the  natives  to  watch  our  move- 


274  THE  LION  HUNTER 

ments  from  this  elevated  position,  I  descended  the 
hill  and  held  for  the  mighty  game. 

I  felt  rather  nervous  on  this  occasion.  I  was 
not  in  good  health,  and  the  forest  here  was  not 
well  adapted  for  the  sport,  the  cover  being  thick, 
with  a  great  deal  of  bad  wait-a-bit  thorns.  When 
we  came  upon  the  troop  they  were  considerably 
scattered,  and  we  first  approached  two  very  in- 
different cows,  which,  hearing  us,  instantly  re- 
treated into  the  thick  cover.  I  would  not  follow 
these,  but  at  once  slipped  my  dogs  in  the  hope 
that  they  would  find  me  better  elephants.  The 
dogs  then  ran  forward  in  different  directions,  and 
immediately  a  loud  trumpeting  followed  from 
three  detachments  of  cows.  Galloping  forward, 
I  obtained  a  view  of  them  all.  There  was  but  one 
right  good  cow  in  the  troop:  she  brought  up  the 
rear  of  a  detachment  which  came  crashing  past 
on  my  right,  making  for  the  densest  cover  round 
the  base  of  the  hill.  This  cow  carried  two  fine 
long  white  tusks,  one  of  them  with  a  very  fine  sharp 
point.  On  attacking  her  she  at  once  separated 
from  her  comrades,  and  every  one  of  my  dogs  took, 
as  is  usual,  away  after  the  calves.  I  galloped  up 
alongside  and  very  near  this  cow,  and,  firing  from 
the  saddle,  bowled  her  over  with  a  single  ball  be- 
hind the  shoulder. 

On  the  llth  we  marched  at  dawn  of  day,  hold- 


ELEPHANTS  —  LIONS  275 

ing  northeast,  and  halted  on  the  bank  of  the  Lim- 
popo. There  the  wagons  remained,  while  I 
hunted  the  banks  of  the  river,  bagging  two  first- 
rate  bull  elephants  and  one  hippopotamus.  One 
of  these  elephants  I  shot  across  the  Limpopo,  un- 
der the  mountains  of  Guapa.  I  fought  him  in 
dense  wait-a-bit  jungle  from  half  past  eleven  till 
the  sun  was  under,  when  his  tough  old  spirit  fled, 
and  the  venerable  monarch  of  the  forest  fell, 
pierced  with  fifty-seven  balls.  On  the  17th  I  in- 
spanned  and  trekked  about  five  miles  down  the 
stream,  when  I  halted  beside  a  long,  deep  hippo- 
potamus hole,  in  which  were  two  bulls  and  one  cow, 
but  it  being  late  I  did  not  trouble  them. 

The  next  day  I  rode  down  the  river  to  seek  sea- 
cows,  accompanied  by  my  two  after-riders,  taking, 
as  usual,  my  double-barreled  rifles.  We  had  pro- 
ceeded about  two  miles  when  we  came  upon  some 
most  thoroughly-beaten,  old-established  hippopo- 
tamus paths,  and  presently,  in  a  broad,  long,  deep, 
and  shaded  pool  of  the  river,  we  heard  the  sea- 
cows  bellowing.  There  I  beheld  one  of  the  most 
wondrous  and  interesting  sights  that  a  sportsman 
can  be  blessed  with.  I  at  once  knew  that  there 
must  be  an  immense  herd  of  them,  for  the  voices 
came  from  different  parts  of  the  pool ;  so,  creeping 
in  through  the  bushes  to  obtain  an  inspection,  a 
large  sandy  island  appeared  at  the  neck  of 


276  THE  LION  HTJNTJSJtC 

the  pool,  on  which  stood  several  large  shaay 
trees. 

The  neck  of  the  pool  was  very  wide  and  shallow, 
with  rocks  and  large  stones ;  below  it  was  deep  and 
still.  On  a  sandy  promontory  of  this  island  stood 
about  thirty  cows  and  calves,  while  in  the  pool  op- 
posite, and  a  little  below  them,  stood  about  twenty 
more  sea-cows,  with  their  heads  and  backs  above 
water.  About  fifty  yards  further  down  the  river 
again,  showing  out  their  heads,  were  eight  or  ten 
immense  fellows,  which  I  think  were  all  bulls ;  and 
about  one  hundred  yards  below  these,  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  stream,  stood  another  herd  of  about 
eight  or  ten  cows  with  calves,  and  two  huge  bulls. 
The  sea-cows  lay  close  together  like  pigs:  a  fa- 
vorite position  was  to  rest  their  heads  on  their 
comrades'  sterns  and  sides. 

The  herds  were  attended  by  an  immense  number 
of  the  invariable  rhinoceros  birds,  which,  on  ob- 
serving me,  did  their  best  to  spread  alarm  through- 
out the  hippopotami.  I  was  resolved  to  select,  if 
possible,  a  first-rate  old  bull  out  of  this  vast  herd, 
and  I  accordingly  delayed  firing  for  nearly  two 
hours,  continually  running  up  and  down  behind 
the  thick  thorny  cover,  and  attentively  studying 
the  heads.  At  length  I  determined  to  go  close  in 
and  select  the  best  head  out  of  the  eight  or  ten 
bulls  which  lay  below  the  cows.  I  accordingly  left 


ELEPHANTS  —  LIONS  277 

the  cover  and  walked  slowly  forward  in  full  view 
of  the  whole  herd  to  the  water's  edge,  where  I  lay 
down  on  my  belly  and  studied  the  heads  of  these 
bulls.  The  cows,  on  seeing  me,  splashed  into  the 
water,  and  kept  up  a  continual  snorting  and  blow- 
ing till  night  set  in. 

After  selecting  for  a  few  minutes,  I  fired  my  first 
shot  at  a  splendid  bull,  and  sent  the  ball  in  a  little 
behind  the  eye.  He  was  at  once  incapacitated, 
and  kept  plunging  and  swimming  round  and  round, 
wearing  away  down  the  pool,  until  I  finished  him 
with  two  more  shots.  The  whole  pool  was  now  in 
a  state  of  intense  commotion.  The  best  cows  and 
the  bulls  at  once  became  very  shy  and  cunning, 
showing  only  the  flat  roofs  of  their  heads,  and 
sometimes  only  their  nostrils.  The  younger  cows 
were  not  so  shy,  producing  the  whole  head;  and 
if  I  had  wished  to  make  a  bag,  I  might  have  shot  an 
immense  number.  This,  however,  was  not  my  ob- 
ject; and  as  there  was  likely  to  be  a  difficulty  in 
securing  what  I  did  kill,  I  determined  only  to  fire 
at  the  very  best.  When,  therefore,  the  sun  went 
down,  I  had  not  fired  a  great  many  shots,  but  had 
bagged  five  first-rate  hippopotami,  four  cows  and 
one  bull,  and  besides  these  there  were  three  or  four 
more  very  severely  wounded  which  were  spouting 
blood  throughout  the  pool. 

The  next  daj  I  removed  my  wagons  to  the  bank 


278  THE  LION  HUNTER 

where  I  had  waged  successful  war  with  tHe  hippo- 
potami. Here  we  halted  beneath  a  shady  tree 
with  a  very  dark  green  leaf,  and  having  drawn 
up  the  wagons,  we  cast  loose  the  trek-tows,  and, 
marching  the  two  spans  of  oxen  down  the  edge 
of  the  river,  dragged  out  one  of  the  sea-cows  high 
and  dry.  After  breakfast  I  rode  down  the  river 
with  Carey  to  seek  those  I  had  wounded.  Having 
ridden  about  three  miles  down  the  river,  we  heard 
sea-cows  snorting;  and  on  dismounting  from  my 
horse  and  creeping  in  through  very  dense  thorny 
cover  which  here  clothed  the  banks,  I  found  a 
very  fine  herd  of  about  thirty  hippopotami  bask- 
ing in  the  sun;  they  lay  upon  a  sand-bank  in  the 
middle  of  the  river,  in  about  three  feet  of  water. 
After  taking  a  long  time  to  make  a  selection,  I 
opened  my  fire  and  discharged  my  four  barrels: 
one  sea-cow  lay  dead,  and  two  others  were  stunned 
and  took  to  the  other  side,  but  eventually  recov- 
ered and  were  not  numbered  with  the  slain.  I  con- 
tinued with  them  till  sundown  and  fired  a  good 
many  shots,  but  only  bagged  one  other  cow:  they 
were  very  shy  and  cunning. 

On  the  20th  I  again  rode  down  the  river  to  the 
pool,  and  found  a  herd  of  sea-cows  still  there;  so 
I  remained  with  them  till  sundown,  and  bagged 
two  very  first-rate  old  sea-cows,  which  were  forth- 
coming next  day.  This  day  I  detected  a  most 


ELEPHANTS  —  LIONS  279 

dangerous  trap  constructed  by  the  Bakalahari  for 
slaying  sea-cows.  It  consisted  of  a  sharp  little 
assagai  or  spike  most  thoroughly  poisoned,  and 
stuck  firmly  into  the  end  of  a  heavy  block  of  thorn- 
wood  about  four  feet  long  and  five  inches  in  di- 
ameter. This  formidable  affair  was  suspended  over 
the  center  of  a  sea-cow  path,  at  a  height  of  about 
thirty  feet  from  the  ground,  by  a  bark  cord  which 
passed  over  a  high  branch  of  a  tree,  and  thence 
to  a  peg  on  one  side  of  the  path  beneath,  leading 
across  the  path  to  a  peg  on  the  other  side,  where 
it  was  fastened.  To  the  suspending  cord  were  two 
triggers  so  constructed  that,  when  the  sea-cow 
struck  against  the  cord  which  led  across  the  path, 
the  heavy  block  above  was  set  at  liberty,  which 
instantly  dropped  with  immense  force  with  its 
poisonous  dart,  inflicting  a  sure  and  mortal  wound. 
The  bones  and  old  teeth  of  sea-cows  which  lay 
rotting  along  the  bank  of  the  river  here  evinced 
the  success  of  this  dangerous  invention.  I  re- 
mained in  the  neighborhood  of  the  pool  for  several 
days,  during  which  time  I  bagged  no  less  than  fif- 
teen first-rate  hippopotami,  the  greater  portion  of 
them  being  bulls. 

At  dawn  of  day  on  the  28th  we  inspanned  and 
marched  up  the  river  to  the  drift.  All  hands 
worked  hard  in  cutting  the  bank  on  the  opposite 
side,  the  Bakalahari  assisting  us ;  and  in  the  after- 


280  THE  LION  HUNTER 

noon  we  got  the  cap-tent  wagon,  which  was  very 
lightly  laden,  through  the  river  with  twelve  oxen. 
The  baggage-wagon  stuck  fast  in  the  mud,  and 
remained  there  all  night,  with  the  fore-wheels  half 
way  up  the  bank,  and  the  after-chest  under  the 
water;  and  although  we  put  twenty  oxen  to  it,  we 
could  not  get  it  out. 

The  next  day  our  first  work  was  to  reduce  the 
bank  on  which  the  wagon  stood,  after  which,  with 
considerable  difficulty,  we  got  it  out  with  twenty 
of  my  best  oxen.  The  whole  day  we  were  busy 
drying  the  innumerable  contents  of  the  fore  and 
after  chests  of  each  wagon,  almost  everything  be- 
ing thoroughly  saturated,  and  I  sustained  consid- 
erable loss  in  fine  powder,  percussion  caps,  biscuit, 
tea,  coffee,  sugar,  and  a  number  of  other  articles, 
some  of  which  were  damaged  and  some  entirely  de- 
stroyed. 

I  marched  at  dawn  of  day  on  the  30th.  Seleka 
and  his  men  and  my  hired  Baquaines  had  done  all 
in  their  power  to  prevent  my  proceeding  further; 
but  as  they  could  not  conceal  the  waters  from  me, 
my  course  being  to  follow  the  Limpopo,  I  was  per- 
fectly independent  of  them.  They  remained  by 
me  until  I  crossed  the  Limpopo,  and  then  all 
turned  home.  I  was  now  once  more  without  na- 
tives, and  held  down  the  northwestern  bank  of  the 
river,  but  very  soon  Bakalahari  joined  us,  and  their 


ELEPHANTS— LIONS  281 

numbers  increased  as  we  held  on.  I  had  the  good 
luck  this  day  to  bag  five  more  first-rate  hippo- 
potami. 

The  next  day,  after  assisting  my  men  to  get  out 
some  of  the  sea-cows,  I  rode  down  the  river  with 
two  after-riders  to  explore.  Having  ridden  a  few 
miles,  I  came  upon  a  troop  of  twelve,  the  best  of 
which  I  disabled  and  killed  the  next  day.  This 
was  a  most  splendid  old  cow,  and  carried  tusks  far 
superior  to  any  we  had  yet  seen ;  in  the  afternoon 
I  bagged  six  more. 

From  a  continued  run  of  good  luck  in  all  my 
hunting  expeditions  with  my  horses  and  oxen,  in 
regard  to  lions  and  Bakalahari  pitfalls,  I  had  be- 
come foolishly  careless  of  them,  and  I  had  got 
into  a  most  dangerous  custom  of  allowing  the  cat- 
tle to  feed  about  the  wagons  long  after  the  sun 
was  under.  I  was  always  boasting  of  my  good 
luck,  and  used  to  say  that  the  lions  knew  they 
were  my  cattle,  and  feared  to  molest  them.  This 
night,  however,  a  bitter  lesson  was  in  store  for  me. 
The  sun,  as  usual,  had  been  under  an  hour  before 
I  ordered  my  men  to  make  fast  my  horses :  the  oxen 
had  of  their  own  accord  come  to  the  wagons  and 
lain  down ;  the  horses,  however,  were  not  forth- 
coming. 

My  hired  natives,  who  were  now  anxious  to  pre- 
vent my  proceeding  further  from  their  country, 


282  THE  LION  HUNTER 

were  willingly  neglecting  their  charge,  and,  in- 
stead of  looking  after  my  cattle,  were  exchanging 
the  flesh  and  fat  of  my  sea-cows  for  assagais,  &c., 
with  the  Bakalahari.  The  night  was  very  dark, 
and  the  horses  were  sought  for  in  vain.  I  re- 
marked to  Carey  that  it  was  some  time  since  we 
had  heard  the  voice  of  a  lion ;  but  a  few  minutes 
after  we  heard  the  low  moan  of  the  king  of  beasts 
repeated  several  times  at  no  great  distance,  and  in 
the  very  direction  in  which  my  horses  were  sup- 
posed to  be. 

The  next  day  the  sun  had  been  up  two  hours,  and 
my  horses  could  not  yet  be  found.  I  entertained 
no  apprehensions,  however,  from  the  lion,  but 
rather  suspected  some  plot  between  Seleka  and  my 
natives  to  drive  my  cattle  back,  and  so  force  me  to 
retrace  my  steps.  I  therefore  ordered  John  Sto- 
folus  and  Hendric  to  take  bridles  and  a  supply  of 
meat,  and  to  follow  up  the  spoor  wherever  it  might 
lead ;  and  being  anxious  to  see  which  way  it  went, 
I  took  my  rifle  and  followed  in  quest  of  it  myself. 

Observing  a  number  of  vultures  to  the  west, 
and  hearing  the  voices  of  natives  in  that  direction, 
I  proceeded  thither  at  top  speed.  To  my  utter 
horror,  I  found  my  two  most  valuable  and  espe- 
cially favorite  veteran  shooting-horses  lying  fear- 
fully mangled  and  half  consumed  by  a  troop  of 
ruthless  lions.  They  were  "  Black  Jock "  and 


ELEPHANTS  —  LIONS  283 

"  Scliwartland,"  the  former  a  first-rate  young 
horse,  worth  £24,  the  latter  aged,  but  by  far  my 
most  valuable  steed,  being  perhaps  the  best  shoot- 
ing-horse in  Southern  Africa ;  he  knew  no  fear,  and 
would  approach  as  near  as  I  chose  to  elephant  or 
lion,  or  any  description  of  game.  From  his  back 
I  had  shot  nearly  all  my  elephants  last  year;  and 
so  fond  was  I  of  this  horse,  that  I  never  rode  or 
even  saddled  him  until  we  had  found  elephants, 
when  I  used  him  in  the  fight,  and  then  immediately 
off-saddled. 

With  a  sickening  heart  I  turned  from  this  most 
painful  scene,  and,  utterly  dejected,  I  returned  to 
camp.  As  there  was  much  to  do  about  the  wagons, 
and  as  two  of  my  men  were  absent  seeking  the  lost 
horses,  I  did  not  immediately  go  in  quest  of  the 
lions ;  this  I,  however,  did  in  the  afternoon,  taking 
all  my  dogs,  but  I  failed  to  find  them.  A  large 
party  of  the  natives  from  the  southwest,  the 
Bamalette,  reached  me  late  in  the  day:  their  object 
was  flesh,  and  to  endeavor  to  persuade  me  to  come 
and  trade  with  them.  They  had  fallen  in  with 
three  of  my  steeds ;  the  others  were  found  by  my 
men  near  the  drift  where  I  had  last  crossed  the 
river.  I  formed  a  very  strong  kraal  for  my  cattle, 
and  made  all  fast  at  sundown.  Very  soon  after, 
the  troop  of  lions  came  up  to  my  camp  on  the  spoor 
of  the  horses,  fancying  that  they  could  repeat  the 


284  THE    LION    HUNTER 

tragedy  of  last  night;  they  fought  with  my  dogs 
in  the  most  daring  manner,  off  and  on,  until  near 
dawn  of  day,  driving  them  in  to  the  fireside. 

In  the  morning,  ordering  my  wagons  to  follow, 
I  rode  down  the  river  followed  by  at  least  two 
hundred  natives,  to  secure  the  hippopotami  shot 
two  days  previous.  Six  of  these  were  forthcoming, 
and  we  set  about  getting  them  to  the  side:  they 
lay  upon  the  rocks  in  the  middle  of  the  river.  One 
of  these  proved  to  be  an  out-and-outer,  a  tearing 
old  bull,  with  tusks  which  far  surpassed  anything 
I  had  yet  seen,  and  quite  perfect ;  I  was  very  much 
gratified  with  this  fine  trophy.  There  were  also 
two  of  the  cows  which  carried  immense  and  perfect 
tusks.  When  the  wagons  came  up,  I  found  my- 
self minus  another  steed:  a  fine  young  mare  had 
fallen  into  a  Bakalahari  pitfall,  and  had  been 
suffocated. 

On  the  5th  I  rode  down  the  river  and  fell  in 
with  a  large  herd  of  about  thirty  hippopotami: 
they  lay  upon  some  rocks  in  the  middle  of  a  very 
long  and  broad  pool.  I  wounded  seven  or  eight 
of  these  in  the  head,  and  killed  two,  a  bull  and  a 
cow,  both  of  which  we  found  next  day.  At  night 
the  lions  prowled  around  our  camp,  and  fought 
with  the  dogs  until  the  morning :  they  came  boldly 
in  between  the  fires  of  the  natives,  who  lay  around 
my  camp. 


CHAPTER    X 

UONS HIPPOPOTAMI ELEPHANTS 

ON  the  10th  of  August,  at  dawn  of  day,  I 
rode  down  the  river,  and  ordered  my 
wagons  to  follow.  I  found  sea-cows 
more  and  more  abundant ;  every  pool  had  its  herd : 
the  margin  of  the  river  on  each  side  was  trampled 
down  by  elephants,  rhinoceroses,  buffaloes,  &c. 
Having  ridden  about  six  miles,  I  found  the  fresh 
spoor  of  a  troop  of  bull  elephants.  I  off-saddled, 
and  in  an  hour  the  wagons  came  up,  when  I  took 
up  the  spoor,  accompanied  by  Carey,  Hendric,  and 
Ruyter.  After  following  the  spoor  for  some  miles, 
the  natives  lost  it.  A  little  distance  ahead  of  us 
was  a  rocky  hill,  to  the  summit  of  which  I  ascended. 
This  spot  commanded  a  good  view  of  the  adjacent 
forest.  I  at  once  detected  an  immense  herd  of 
elephants.  They  were  drinking  in  a  wide  open 
spot  on  a  gravelly-bedded  river  which  falls  into  the 
Limpopo,  called  by  the  natives  Suking. 

We  then  made  a  turn  to  leeward  and  came  in 
upon  this  fine  herd;  it  was  the  largest  I  had  ever 
seen ;  there  must  have  been  upward  of  one  hundred 

285 


286  THE  LION  HUNTER 

elephants  before  my  eye  at  once.  The  troop  con- 
sisted chiefly  of  cows  and  calves ;  I,  however,  de- 
tected one  fine,  well-grown  bull,  carrying  very  fair 
tusks.  I  rode  slowly  toward  him,  followed  by  my 
men,  and  the  natives  leading  the  dogs.  We  ad- 
vanced unobserved  until  we  were  within  twenty 
yards  of  some  of  the  outside  cows.  Here  I  enjoyed 
a  fine  view  of  the  herd:  they  stood  drinking  on  a 
vast  surface  of  granite  rock,  and,  though  no  i^rees 
intervened  between  us  and  them,  they  took  not  the 
slightest  notice  of  us. 

At  length  I  gave  the  bull  a  shot  in  the  shoulder, 
and  then  followed  him  up.  He  stumbled,  and  fell 
once  upon  the  slippery  rock,  but,  recovering  his 
feet,  went  off  at  a  pace  which  I  could  hardly  equal 
on  the  dangerous  rock.  By  good  luck,  most  of  my 
dogs  came  to  my  assistance,  and  I  slew  him  in  a 
few  minutes  with  eight  or  ten  shots.  I  had  directed 
Hendric  and  Carey  to  try  to  hold  some  of  the  cows 
for  me  until  I  was  ready  with  the  bull;  accord- 
ingly, these  doughty  Nimrods  followed  and  turned 
four  cows  for  a  short  time,  and  then  left  them, 
without  even  firing  a  shot  to  advise  me  of  their 
course;  the  consequence  of  which  was,  that  I 
knocked  up  myself,  my  dogs,  and  horses,  in  chas- 
ing the  retreating  herd  to  a  great  distance,  to  no 
purpose. 

On  the  following  day  I  shot  another  bull  ele- 


HIPPOPOTAMI  —  ELEPHANTS      287 

phant  and  a  white  rhinoceros  ;  and  on  the  afternoon 
of  the  12th,  returning  to  camp  weary  and  worn, 
I  came  unexpectedly  upon  a  bull  elephant  of  un- 
usual size,  standing  in  the  shade  on  the  margin 
of  the  Limpopo.  He  took  refuge  in  an  extensive 
jungle  of  impracticable  wait-a-bits,  where  it  was 
impossible  to  do  anything  on  horseback,  and  I 
was  therefore  obliged  to  hunt  him  on  foot.  I 
slew  him  with  thirty  bullets  after  an  extremely 
severe  and  dangerous  combat  of  about  two  hours. 
I  afterward  felt  much  the  worse  for  this  severe 
exertion. 

On  the  14th  I  dispatched  Hendric  to  bring  on 
the  wagons,  which  came  up  in  the  afternoon. 
Night  set  in  warm,  calm,  and  still,  with  a  good 
moonlight.  Elephants,  sea-cows,  and  panthers 
kept  up  a  continued  music  above  and  below  us 
along  the  river  until  I  fell  asleep. 

On  the  15th  I  felt  very  ill,  but  in  the  forenoon 
I  went  down  to  the  river,  where  I  shot  two  sea- 
cows.  In  the  evening,  feeling  worse,  I  bled  my- 
self, but  strong  fever  was  on  me  all  night. 

Next  morning  I  marched,  halting  at  sundown 
on  the  Moko j  ay ,  a  gravelly-bedded  periodical  river, 
where  elephants  occasionally  drank. 

On  the  18th,  at  dawn  of  day,  I  took  leave  of 
Mollyeon  and  Kapain  of  Bamangwato,  as  they 
would  not  follow  me  further.  We  then  inspanned, 


288  THE  LION  HUNTER 

and  held  down  the  Limpopo.  I  regretted  to  ob- 
serve that  the  spoor  of  elephants  did  not  seem  to 
increase  in  the  same  ratio  as  I  had  allowed  myself 
to  imagine.  We  were  in  an  extremely  remote  and 
secluded  corner  of  the  world,  quite  uninhabited; 
yet  the  elephants,  though  frequenting  it,  were  de- 
cidedly scarce.  I  felt  extremely  weak  and  nervous 
from  the  fever  and  the  quantity  of  blood  which  I 
had  lost,  in  so  much  that  I  started  at  my  own 
shadow,  and  several  times  sprang  to  one  side  when 
the  leaves  rustled  in  the  bushes.  I  walked  along 
the  bank  of  the  river  with  my  gun  loaded  with 
small  shot,  intending  to  shoot  a  partridge  for  my 
breakfast.  Presently  I  came  upon  the  fresh  dung 
of  bull  elephants,  and  at  the  same  moment  my 
people  at  the  wagons  saw  two  old  bull  elephants 
within  two  hundred  yards  of  them;  and  the  wind 
being  favorable,  they  walked  unsuspiciously. 
After  a  very  short  chase  I  succeeded  in  killing 
both. 

My  fever  still  continuing  on  me,  and  the  natives 
having  deserted,  I  determined  upon  turning  my 
face  homeward.  Accordingly,  on  the  21st,  I  or- 
dered my  men  to  inspan  and  retrace  their  spoor. 
A  troop  of  lions  had  killed  some  game  within  a 
few  hundred  yards  of  us,  and  had  been  roaring 
very  loudly  all  morning:  these  gave  us  a  part- 
ing salute  as  we  were  inspanning.  Their  voices 


HIPPOPOTAMI  —  ELEPHANTS 

sounded  to  me  ominous,  perhaps  from  the  nervous 
state  of  my  health.  I  thought  they  said,  "  Yes, 
you  do  well  to  retrace  your  rash  steps ;  you  have 
just  come  far  enough."  I  must  acknowledge  that 
I  felt  a  little  anxious  as  to  the  safety  of  pro- 
ceeding further  on  several  accounts.  First,  the 
natives  had  spoken  of  Moselekatze,  now  resident 
not  very  far  in  advance,  as  one  who  would  most 
unquestionably  murder  me,  and  seize  all  my  prop- 
erty. They  also  told  me  that  I  should  lose  all  my 
cattle  by  the  fly  called  "  tsetse ; "  and  I  had  also 
reason  to  believe  the  country  in  advance  not  very 
healthy  for  man. 

My  followers  received  my  orders  to  turn  home- 
ward with  sincere  gratification:  we  trekked  till 
sundown,  halting  on  the  march  for  a  sick  ox, 
which  we  eventually  left  behind  a  prey  to  the  lions, 
and  slept  on  the  Mokojay,  where  the  Bamangwato 
men  had  left  me. 

On  the  29th  we  arrived  at  a  small  village  of 
Bakalahari.  These  natives  told  me  that  elephants 
were  abundant  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river. 
I  accordingly  resolved  to  halt  here  and  hunt,  and 
drew  my  wagons  up  on  the  river's  bank,  within 
thirty  yards  of  the  water,  and  about  one  hun- 
dred yards  from  the  native  village.  Having  out- 
spanned,  we  at  once  set  about  making  for  the 
cattle  a  kraal  of  the  worst  description  of  thorn- 


290  THE  LION  HUNTER 

trees.  Of  this  I  had  now  become  very  particular, 
since  my  severe  loss  by  lions  on  the  first  of  this 
month;  and  my  cattle  were,  at  night,  secured  by 
a  strong  kraal,  which  inclosed  my  two  wagons, 
the  horses  being  made  fast  to  a  trek-tow  stretched 
between  the  hind  wheels  of  the  wagons. 

I  had  yet,  however,  a  fearful  lesson  to  learn  as 
to  the  nature  and  character  of  the  lion,  of  which 
I  had  at  one  time  entertained  so  little  fear;  and 
on  this  night  a  horrible  tragedy  was  to  be  acted 
in  my  little  lonely  camp  of  so  very  awful  and 
appalling  a  nature  as  to  make  the  blood  curdle  in 
our  veins.  I  worked  till  near  sundown  at  one 
side  of  the  kraal  with  Hendric,  my  first  wagon- 
driver —  I  cutting  down  the  trees  with  my  ax, 
and  he  dragging  them  to  the  kraal.  When  the 
kraal  for  the  cattle  was  finished,  I  turned  my  at- 
tention to  making  a  pot  of  barley-broth,  and 
lighted  a  fire  between  the  wagons  and  the  water, 
close  on  the  river's  bank,  under  a  dense  grove  of 
shady  trees,  making  no  sort  of  kraal  around  our 
sitting-place  for  the  evening. 

The  Hottentots,  without  any  reason,  made  their 
fire  about  fifty  yards  from  mine;  they,  according 
to  their  usual  custom,  being  satisfied  with  the 
shelter  of  a  large  dense  bush.  The  evening  passed 
away  cheerfully.  Soon  after  it  was  dark  we  heard 
elephants  breaking  the  trees  in  the  forest  across 


HIPPOPOTAMI  —  ELEPHANTS      291 

the  river,  and  once  or  twice  I  strode  away  into 
the  darkness  some  distance  from  the  fireside  to 
stand  and  listen  to  them.  I  little,  at  that 
moment,  deemed  of  the  imminent  peril  to  which 
I  was  exposing  my  life,  nor  thought  that  a  blood- 
thirsty man-eater  lion  was  crouching  near,  and 
only  watching  his  opportunity  to  spring  into  the 
kraal,  and  consign  one  of  us  to  a  most  horrible 
death. 

About  three  hours  after  the  sun  went  down  I 
called  to  my  men  to  come  and  take  their  coffee 
and  supper,  which  was  ready  for  them  at  my  fire ; 
and  after  supper  three  of  them  returned  before 
their  comrades  to  their  own  fireside,  and  lay 
down;  these  were  John  Stofolus,  Hendric,  and 
Ruyter.  In  a  few  minutes  an  ox  came  out  by 
the  gate  of  the  kraal  and  walked  round  the  back 
of  it.  Hendric  got  up  and  drove  him  in  again, 
and  then  went  back  to  his  fireside  and  lay  down. 
Hendric  and  Ruyter  lay  on  one  side  of  the  fire 
under  one  blanket,  and  John  Stofolus  lay  on  the 
other.  At  this  moment  I  was  sitting  taking  some 
barley-broth;  our  fire  was  very  small,  and  the 
night  was  pitch-dark  and  windy.  Owing  to  our 
proximity  to  the  native  village  the  wood  was  very 
scarce,  the  Bakalahari  having  burned  it  all  in 
their  fires. 

Suddenly   the   appalling  and  murderous  voice 


292  THE  LION  HUNTER 

of  an  angry,  blood-thirsty  lion  burst  upon  my 
ear  within  a  few  yards  of  us,  followed  by  the 
shrieking  of  the  Hottentots.  Again  and  again 
the  murderous  roar  of  attack  was  repeated.  We 
heard  John  and  Ruyter  shriek,  "  The  lion !  the 
lion ! "  still,  for  a  few  moments,  we  thought  he 
was  but  chasing  one  of  the  dogs  round  the  kraal ; 
but,  next  instant,  John  Stofolus  rushed  into  the 
midst  of  us  almost  speechless  with  fear  and  terror, 
his  eyes  bursting  from  their  sockets,  and  shrieked 
out,  "  The  lion !  the  lion !  He  has  got  Hendric ; 
he  dragged  him  away  from  the  fire  beside  me.  I 
struck  him  with  the  burning  brands  upon  his 
head,  but  he  would  not  let  go  his  hold.  Hendric 
is  dead!  Oh  God!  Hendric  is  dead!  Let  us 
take  fire  and  seek  him ! " 

The  rest  of  my  people  rushed  about,  shrieking 
and  yelling  as  if  they  were  mad.  I  was  at  once 
angry  with  them  for  their  folly,  and  told  them 
that  if  they  did  not  stand  still  and  keep  quiet  the 
lion  would  have  another  of  us ;  and  that  very 
likely  there  was  a  troop  of  them.  I  ordered  the 
dogs,  which  were  nearly  all  fast,  to  be  made  loose, 
and  the  fire  to  be  increased  as  far  as  could  be. 
I  then  shouted  Hendric's  name,  but  all  was  still. 
I  told  my  men  that  Hendric  was  dead,  and  that  a 
regiment  of  soldiers  could  not  now  help  him,  and, 
hunting  my  dogs  forward,  I  had  everything 


HIPPOPOTAMI  —  ELEPHANTS      293 

brought  within  the  cattle-kraal,  when  we  lighted 
our  fire  and  closed  the  entrance  as  well  as  we 
could. 

My  terrified  people  sat  round  the  fire  with 
guns  in  their  hands  till  the  day  broke,  still  fancy- 
ing that  every  moment  the  lion  would  return  and 
spring  again  into  the  midst  of  us.  When  the 
dogs  were  first  let  go,  the  stupid  brutes,  as  dogs 
often  prove  when  most  required,  instead  of  going 
at  the  lion,  rushed  fiercely  on  one  another,  and 
fought  desperately  for  some  minutes.  After  this 
they  got  his  wind,  and,  going  at  him,  disclosed  to 
us  his  position;  they  kept  up  a  continual  barking 
until  the  day  dawned,  the  lion  occasionally  spring- 
ing after  them  and  driving  them  in  upon  the  kraal. 
The  horrible  monster  lay  all  night  within  forty 
yards  of  us,  consuming  the  wretched  man  whom  he 
had  chosen  for  his  prey.  He  had  dragged  him 
into  a  little  hollow  at  the  back  of  the  thick  bush 
beside  which  the  fire  was  kindled,  and  there  he 
remained  till  the  day  dawned,  careless  of  our 
proximity. 

It  appeared  that  when  the  unfortunate  Hendric 
rose  to  drive  in  the  ox,  the  lion  had  watched  him 
to  his  fireside,  and  he  had  scarcely  lain  down  when 
the  brute  sprang  upon  him  and  Ruyter  (for  both 
lay  under  one  blanket),  with  his  appalling,  mur- 
derous roar,  and,  roaring  as  he  lay,  grappled  him 


294  THE  LION  HUNTER 

with  his  fearful  claws,  and  kept  biting  him  on 
the  breast  and  shoulder,  all  the  while  feeling  for 
his  neck;  having  got  hold  of  which,  he  at  once 
dragged  him  away  backward  round  the  bush  into 
the  dense  shade. 

As  the  lion  lay  upon  the  unfortunate  man,  he 
faintly  cried,  "  Help  me,  help  me !  Oh  God, 
men,  help  me ! "  After  which  the  fearful  beast 
got  a  hold  of  his  neck,  and  then  all  was  still, 
except  that  his  comrades  heard  the  bones  of  his 
neck  cracking  between  the  teeth  of  the  lion.  John 
Stofolus  had  lain  with  his  back  to  the  fire  on  the 
opposite  side,  and  on  hearing  the  lion  he  sprang 
up,  and,  seizing  a  large  flaming  brand,  he  had 
belabored  him  on  the  head  with  the  burning  wood ; 
but  the  brute  did  not  take  any  notice  of  him. 
The  Bushman  had  a  narrow  escape;  he  was  not 
altogether  scatheless,  the  lion  having  inflicted  two 
gashes  in  his  seat  with  his  claws. 

The  next  morning,  just  as  the  day  began  to 
dawn,  we  heard  the  lion  dragging  something  up 
the  river  side  under  cover  of  the  bank.  We  drove 
the  cattle  out  of  the  kraal,  and  then  proceeded  to 
inspect  the  scene  of  the  night's  awful  tragedy. 
In  the  hollow,  where  the  lion  had  lain  consuming 
his  prey,  we  found  one  leg  of  the  unfortunate 
Hendric,  bitten  off  below  the  knee,  the  shoe  still 
on  his  foot ;  the  grass  and  bushes  were  all  stained 


HIPPOPOTAMI  —  ELEPHANTS      295 

with  his  blood,  and  fragments  of  his  pea-coat  lay 
around.  Poor  Hendric !  I  knew  the  fragments 
of  that  old  coat,  and  had  often  marked  them  hang- 
ing in  the  dense  covers  where  the  elephant  had 
charged  after  my  unfortunate  after-rider. 

Hendric  was  by  far  the  best  man  I  had  about 
my  wagons,  of  a  most  cheerful  disposition,  a  first- 
rate  wagon-driver,  fearless  in  the  field,  ever  active, 
willing,  and  obliging:  his  loss  to  us  all  was  very 
serious.  I  felt  confounded  and  utterly  sick  in 
my  heart;  I  could  not  remain  at  the  wagons,  so  I 
resolved  to  go  after  elephants  to  divert  my  mind. 
I  had  that  morning  heard  them  breaking  the  trees 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  I  accordingly 
told  the  natives  of  the  village  of  my  intentions, 
and  having  ordered  my  people  to  devote  the  day 
to  fortifying  the  kraal,  started  with  Piet  and 
Ruyter  as  my  after-riders. 

It  was  a  very  cool  day.  We  crossed  the  river, 
and  at  once  took  up  the  fresh  spoor  of  a  troop  of 
bull  elephants.  These  bulls  unfortunately  joined 
a  troop  of  cows,  and  when  we  came  on  them  the 
dogs  attacked  the  cows,  and  the  bulls  were  off  in 
a  moment,  before  we  could  even  see  them.  One 
remarkably  fine  old  cow  charged  the  dogs.  I 
hunted  this  cow,  and  finished  her  with  two  shots 
from  the  saddle.  Being  anxious  to  return  to  my 
people  before  night,  I  did  not  attempt  to  follow 


296  THE  LION  HUNTER 

the  troop.  My  followers  were  not  a  little  grati- 
fied to  see  me  returning,  for  terror  had  taken  hold 
of  their  minds,  and  they  expected  that  the  lion 
would  return,  and,  emboldened  by  the  success  of 
the  preceding  night,  would  prove  still  more  daring 
in  his  attack.  The  lion  would  most  certainly  have 
returned,  but  fate  had  otherwise  ordained.  My 
health  had  been  better  in  the  last  three  days:  my 
fever  was  leaving  me,  but  I  was,  of  course,  still 
very  weak.  It  would  still  be  two  hours  before  the 
sun  would  set,  and,  feeling  refreshed  by  a  little 
rest,  and  able  for  further  work,  I  ordered  the 
steeds  to  be  saddled,  and  went  in  search  of  the  lion. 
I  took  John  and  Carey  as  after-riders,  armed, 
and  a  party  of  the  natives  followed  up  the  spoor 
and  led  the  dogs.  The  lion  had  dragged  the  re- 
mains of  poor  Hendric  along  a  native  foot-path 
that  led  up  the  river  side.  We  found  fragments 
of  his  coat  all  along  the  spoor,  and  at  last  the 
mangled  coat  itself.  About  six  hundred  yards 
from  our  camp  a  dry  river's  course  joined  the 
Limpopo.  At  this  spot  was  much  shade,  cover, 
and  heaps  of  dry  reeds  and  trees  deposited  by  the 
Limpopo  in  some  great  flood.  The  lion  had  left 
the  foot-path  and  entered  this  secluded  spot.  I 
at  once  felt  convinced  that  we  were  upon  him,  and 
ordered  the  natives  to  make  loose  the  dogs. 
These  walked  suspiciously  forward  on  the  spoor, 


HIPPOPOTAMI  —  ELEPHANTS      297 

and  next  minute  began  to  spring  about,  barking 
angrily,  with  all  their  hair  bristling  on  their  backs : 
a  crash  upon  the  dry  reeds  immediately  followed 
—  it  was  the  lion  bounding  away. 

Several  of  the  dogs  were  extremely  afraid  of 
him,  and  kept  rushing  continually  backward  and 
springing  aloft  to  obtain  a  view.  I  now  pressed 
forward  and  urged  them  on;  old  Argyll  and  Bles 
took  up  his  spoor  in  gallant  style,  and  led  on  the 
other  dogs.  Then  commenced  a  short  but  lively 
and  glorious  chase,  whose  conclusion  was  the  only 
small  satisfaction  that  I  could  obtain  to  answer 
for  the  horrors  of  the  preceding  evening.  The 
lion  held  up  the  river's  bank  for  a  short  distance, 
and  took  away  through  some  wait-a-bit  thorn 
cover,  the  best  he  could  find,  but  nevertheless  open. 
Here,  in  two  minutes,  the  dogs  were  up  with  him, 
and  he  turned  and  stood  at  bay.  As  I  ap- 
proached, he  stood,  his  horrid  head  right  to  me, 
with  open  jaws  growling  fiercely,  his  tail  waving 
from  side  to  side. 

On  beholding  him  my  blood  boiled  with  rage.  I 
wished  that  I  could  take  him  alive  and  torture 
him,  and,  setting  my  teeth,  I  dashed  my  steed  for- 
ward within  thirty  yards  of  him  and  shouted, 
"  Your  time  is  up,  old  fellow."  I  halted  my 
horse,  and,  placing  my  rifle  to  my  shoulder,  waited 
for  a  broadside.  This  the  next  moment  he  ex- 


298  THE  LION  HUNTER 

posed,  when  I  sent  a  bullet  through  his  shoulder 
and  dropped  him  on  the  spot.  He  rose,  however, 
again,  when  I  finished  him  with  a  second  in  the 
breast. 

The  Bakalahari  now  came  up  in  wonder  and  de- 
light. I  ordered  John  to  cut  off  his  head  and  fore- 
paws  and  bring  them  to  the  wagons,  and,  mount- 
ing my  horse,  galloped  home,  having  been  absent 
about  fifteen  minutes.  When  the  Bakalahari 
women  heard  that  the  man-eater  was  dead,  they  all 
commenced  dancing  about  with  joy,  calling  me 
their  father. 

On  the  6th  of  September,  there  being  no  flesh 
in  camp,  I  galloped  up  the  river  side  to  slay  a 
hippopotamus,  and  presently  heard  a  troop  of 
them  chanting  behind  me:  I  had  ridden  past  them 
and  not  observed  them.  With  these  I  was  un- 
lucky :  I  wounded  six  or  seven,  but  did  not  bag  one ; 
they  became  very  shy  and  cunning  after  the  first 
shot,  only  protruding  their  noses.  At  mid-day  I 
returned  to  camp  and  drank  tea,  after  which  I 
galloped  down  the  river  to  a  favorite  sea-cow  pool 
about  a  mile  below  my  wagons.  I  was  accompanied 
by  natives  carrying  my  rifles.  I  found  an  im- 
mense herd  of  at  least  thirty  hippopotami  lying 
upon  the  rocks  in  the  middle  of  the  river.  I  shot 
the  best  bull  and  two  fine  old  cows,  and  wounded  a 
fourth.  The  bull  and  the  two  cows  soon  floated, 


HIPPOPOTAMI  —  ELEPHANTS      299 

and  all  three  rested  together  on  a  ledge  of  rocks  in 
the  middle  of  the  river.  I  then  sent  for  John  and 
Adonis,  and  with  the  assistance  of  the  Bakalahari 
we  got  them  into  shallow  water,  where  we  could 
work  upon  them. 

I  was  occupied  most  of  the  next  day  in  super- 
intending the  cutting  up  of  the  flesh  of  the  sea- 
cows,  and  reducing  the  same  to  biltongue,  which 
we  hung  in  garlands  upon  ox-rheims  stretched  be- 
tween the  trees,  surrounding  them  by  a  strong 
kraal  of  thorn-trees. 

In  the  evening  a  large  party  of  Seleka's  Bechu- 
anas  arrived  at  my  camp.  On  the  8th  one  of 
my  horses  died  of  horse-sickness ;  it  was,  of  course, 
my  favorite,  being  my  best  shooting-horse.  On 
reaching  camp  after  my  last  hunting  excursion, 
"  Lion,"  my  very  best  dog,  was  reported  consumed 
by  a  huge  crocodile,  who  frequented  the  spot  where 
we  drew  water.  For  such  little  pleasing  varieties 
the  African  hunter  must  make  up  his  mind;  they 
are  mere  occurrences  of  every  day. 

I  saddled  up  at  an  early  hour,  and  went  in  quest 
of  elephants  with  Seleka's  men.  We  crossed  the 
Limpopo,  and  then  held  east  through  the  forest 
for  the  strong  fountain  called  Seboono.  I  was 
unlucky  here,  however,  as  I  also  was  next  day, 
although  we  hunted  by  a  splendid  fountain  in  a 
more  southerly  direction.  When  under  the  moun- 


300  THE  LION  HUNTER 

tains  I  met  with  the  famous  fly  called  "  tsetse," 
whose  bite  is  certain  death  to  oxen  and  horses. 
This  "  hunter's  scourge "  is  similar  to  a  fly  in 
Scotland  called  "  kleg,"  but  a  little  smaller ;  they 
are  very  quick  and  active,  and  storm  a  horse  like 
a  swarm  of  bees,  alighting  on  him  in  hundreds  and  v 
drinking  his  blood.  The  animal  thus  bitten  pines 
away  and  dies  at  periods  varying  from  a  week  to 
three  months,  according  to  the  extent  to  which  he 
has  been  bitten. 

On  the  10th  the  chief  Pocoolway  arrived  with  a 
large  retinue :  he  was  a  short,  stout  man,  of  a  pre- 
possessing expression,  and  both  in  appearance  and 
manner  much  reminded  me  of  a  certain  Scottish 
earl. 

After  three  or  four  days'  unsuccessful  hunting, 
I  resolved  on  the  14th,  there  being  good  moonlight, 
to  try  what  might  be  done  with  the  elephants  by 
night-shooting  at  the  fountains,  and  I  determined 
to  make  Carey  shoot  with  me,  he  using  the  big  rifle 
of  six  to  the  pound,  and  I  my  single-barreled  two- 
grooved  of  eight  to  the  pound/  In  the  forenoon 
we  were  occupied  making  very  hard  bullets  and 
sorting  our  ammunition  &c.,  &c.,  for  a  week's  ex- 
pedition, and  at  mid-day  we  started,  followed  by 
about  sixty  natives. 

We  crossed  the  Limpopo,  and  held  about  east, 
right  away  through  the  forest,  for  the  fountain 


HIPPOPOTAMI  —  ELEPHANTS      301 

which  I  had  visited  on  the  8th.  On  our  line  of 
march  we  found  no  fresh  spoor:  the  day  was  ex- 
tremely hot,  and  the  shuffling  Bechuanas  chose  to 
lag  behind  in  the  forest  until  they  lost  me  entirely, 
with  the  exception  of  three  or  four,  who  kept  up 
with  Piet,  my  after-rider,  carrying  my  gun,  and 
leading  "  Filbert "  and  "  Frochum,"  two  of  my 
best  dogs.  Not  one  of  these  men  knew  the  country, 
and  they  had  no  Bakalahari  with  them  to  act  as 
guides. 

When  I  reached  the  small  fountain  which  lies 
west  of  the  famous  fountain  for  which  I  was  steer- 
ing, I  told  Piet  to  come  on  with  the  natives,  and 
that  I  would  ride  ahead  to  the  large  fountain.  I 
then  galloped  ahead,  and  made  the  fountain  on 
its  lee  side.  On  slowly  emerging  from  the  thorny 
thicket  through  which  I  rode,  I  was  astonished  to 
behold  two  superb  old  bull  elephants  standing  be- 
fore me  in  the  open  space  between  the  cover  and 
the  fountain.  Both  of  them  carried  enormous 
tusks ;  one  bull,  however,  was  much  taller  and 
stouter  than  his  comrade;  I  had  very  rarely  seen 
his  match,  and  his  tusks  at  once  took  my  eye  as 
being  perhaps  the  finest  I  had  ever  beheld.  Here, 
then,  was  I  standing,  without  gun  or  dogs,  and 
with  a  very  jaded  steed,  beside,  as  I  afterward  had 
good  reason  to  believe,  the  very  best  elephant  in 
all  that  district,  and  in  perhaps  many  of  the  sur- 


302  THE  LION  HUNTER 

rounding  parts.  I  would  have  given  anything  at 
that  moment  for  my  gun  and  dogs. 

I  felt  much  perplexed  what  to  do,  but  at  length 
resolved  that  it  was  best  to  hold  the  elephants  in 
my  view,  and  in  the  event  of  their  being  started  to 
endeavor  to  hold  the  larger  bull  in  play,  and  hunt 
him  always  back  toward  the  fountain,  until  assist- 
ance should  arrive.  It  was  well  that  I  came  to  so 
shrewd  a  resolution,  for  I  had  not  stood  sentry 
over  them  for  many  minutes,  when,  some  strag- 
gling party  having  missed  the  fountain,  and 
passing  to  windward,  they  suddenly  tossed  up  their 
trunks,  and,  snuffing  the  tainted  gale,  crashed  past 
me  down  the  wind  at  top  speed. 

Now  came  the  tug  of  war.  I  had  no  child's  play 
before  me:  alone  and  unassisted,  and  on  a  very 
jaded  steed,  I  had  resolved  to  endeavor  what  no 
two  of  my  men  had  ever  accomplished  for  me.  I 
had  not  only  to  stick  by  the  elephant  wherever  he 
chose  to  go,  which  was  all  I  required  of  my  people 
when  endeavoring  to  assist  me  in  my  hunting,  but 
I  must  also  drive  him  back  and  keep  him  by  the 
fountain,  or  else  all  my  exertions  would  be  fruitless. 

I  had  very  slight  hope  of  success ;  but  he  was 
well  worthy  of  a  tough  struggle,  and  I  determined 
that  he  should  have  it.  I  thought  what  my  feel- 
ings would  be  that  night  by  my  fireside  if  I  let  him 
escape,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  how  highly  I  should 


HIPPOPOTAMI  —  ELEPHANTS      303 

prize  his  noble  trophies  if  I  succeeded.  I  at  once 
dashed  after  him  and  separated  him  from  his  com- 
rades. When  he  found  that  I  had  the  speed  of 
him,  he  turned  at  once  upon  me  and  charged 
furiously  back  toward  the  fountain,  after  which 
he  tried  to  conceal  himself  among  the  trees,  and, 
having  stood  motionless  for  some  time  with  his 
head  toward  me,  crashed  away  through  the  forest 
to  the  southward.  I  soon  headed  him  again,  yelling 
with  all  my  might.  Of  course  another  charge  fol- 
lowed: I  eventually  managed,  however,  to  drive 
him  back  close  to  the  fountain ;  still,  no  assistance 
hove  in  sight.  My  after-rider,  though  he  had  been 
there  before,  had  missed  the  fountain.  It  was  he 
and  the  natives  with  him  who  had  started  the  ele- 
phants :  they  had  crossed  the  fountain  to  windward, 
and  were  wandering  about  with  my  gun  and  dogs 
some  miles  beyond  me. 

It  were  long  to  describe  all  the  turns  and  twists 
I  had  with  this  princely  old  bull.  I  certainly  did 
my  duty,  and  stuck  by  him  like  a  good  old  deer- 
hound  by  his  stag.  At  length  the  elephant  became 
extremely  fierce,  following  up  his  charges  with 
most  determined  intent  to  crush  me  and  my  steed, 
which,  at  first  very  much  jaded,  was  now  so  com-  « 
pletely  done  up  that  he  could  barely  hold  his  own. 
I  myself  felt  much  exhausted,  and  my  throat  was 
becoming  so  sore  and  hoarse  that  my  shouting  was 


304.  THE  LION  HUNTER 

for  the  present  nearing  to  a  close.  In  this  state 
of  things  I  could  not  have  held  him  much  longer. 
Help  was,  however,  at  hand.  Carey  and 
Mutchuisho,  with  a  large  party  of  the  natives, 
were  at  this  moment  carefully  following  up  the 
spoor  of  my  horse  where  I  had  first  ridden  ahead  to 
the  fountain,  and  were  passing  a  considerable  dis- 
tance to  leeward  of  where  I  was  at  bay,  or  rather, 
I  should  say,  baying,  when  my  hoarse  voice  fell  on 
Carey's  ear,  and  he  instantly  called  silence  among 
the  natives,  and  sat  listening  in  his  saddle.  A 
second  time  my  voice  fell  on  his  ear,  and  he  at  once 
held  forward  right  for  me,  contrary  to  the  opinion 
of  the  thick-headed  natives,  who  swore  that  the 
voice  came  from  behind. 

Fortunately,  at  this  very  moment  the  elephant 
made  a  furious  charge  after  me,  accompanied  by  a 
tremendous  trumpet,  which  at  once  sealed  his  fate. 
They  all  heard  it,  and  "  Cooley  "  and  "  Affriar," 
two  right  good  dogs,  were  instantly  released  from 
the  couples  and  flew  to  my  assistance,  followed 
by  Carey  and  the  natives.  Right  glad  was  I  when 
I  saw  black  Cooley  come  up  to  help  me.  I  at  once 
felt  that  the  elephant  was  mine,  being  certain  that 
further  assistance  was  at  hand,  and,  with  revived 
spirits,  I  yelled  with  all  my  might.  In  two  min- 
utes up  came  Carey  on  horseback,  but  without  a 
gun.  I  called  out  to  him,  "  For  God's  sake,  Carey, 


HIPPOPOTAMI  —  ELEPHANTS      305 

bring  me  a  gun !  here  is  the  finest  elephant  in 
Africa.  I  have  held  him  at  bay  and  fought  with 
him  for  nearly  two  hours." 

Carey  rode  back  and  brought  me  his  single- 
barreled  smooth  bore,  carrying  twelve  to  the 
pound,  and  gave  me  eight  bullets  out  of  his  belt, 
expressing  immense  regret  that  my  gun  was  not 
forthcoming.  Carey  had  always  an  absurd  idea 
that  his  gun  could  not  kill  an  elephant:  to-day, 
however,  it  was  in  other  hands.  "  My  good  fel- 
low," I  said,  "  it  is  all  right ;  the  elephant  is  ours." 

I  then  opened  my  fire  on  him  from  the  saddle. 
I  put  my  seventh  bullet  through  his  heart:  on  re- 
ceiving it,  he  made  a  short  charge,  and  stood 
trembling  for  a  few  seconds,  when  he  fell  forward 
on  his  breast  and  so  lay;  but  evincing  a  desire  to 
alter  his  position,  which  was  a  very  good  one  for 
cutting  out  the  teeth,  I  dismounted,  and,  going 
close  up  to  him,  I  put  two  bullets  into  his  ear, 
when  he  expired.  The  tusks  of  this  elephant 
equaled  my  expectations ;  one  of  them,  as  usual, 
was  more  perfect  than  its  fellow.  I  had  never 
seen  their  match  but  once.  On  reviewing  the  whole 
afternoon's  work,  I  considered  myself  extremely 
fortunate  in  capturing  this  noble  prize,  and  felt 
most  gratified  with  the  satisfactory  termination  of 
my  exertions.  Piet  and  his  party  heard  my  shots, 
and  they  presently  came  up  to  us ;  coffee  and  other 


306  THE  LION  HUNTER 

good  things  were  soon  spread  out  on  a  sheep-skin, 
and  a  comfortable  sofa  being  quickly  constructed 
of  soft  grass,  covered  with  a  kaross,  I  lay  down 
to  rest,  the  happiest  of  the  happy. 

The  15th  was  an  extremely  hot  day.  Carey  and 
I  were  occupied  all  the  morning  cutting  out  the 
tusks  of  the  big  bull  elephant ;  we  took  particular 
care  not  to  let  the  blood  fall  upon  them.  In  the 
evening  we  made  hiding-places  beside  the  fountain 
from  which  to  shoot  elephants,  and  when  the  sun 
went  down  we  returned  thither  and  took  up  our 
positions  for  the  night.  Unfortunately,  the  dead 
elephant  lay  directly  to  windward  of  the  southern 
margin  of  the  fountain,  on  which  side  were  all  the 
best  elephant  foot-paths.  The  consequence  was, 
that  every  elephant  as  he  came  up  got  the  wind 
of  the  natives,  and  turned  right  about. 

Late  in  the  night  a  troop  of  eight  or  ten  bull 
elephants  walked  slowly  across  the  vley  with  their 
heads  to  the  north.  I  rushed  forward  to  get  be- 
fore them  in  the  wind,  and  running  down  the  edge 
of  the  thorn  cover,  I  got  within  thirty  yards  of 
the  last  bull,  which  was  the  best  in  the  troop. 
Observing  me  move,  he  stood  with  his  tusks  up  and 
his  head  directed  toward  me  in  a  very  suspicious 
manner  for  two  minutes,  when  his  fears  died  away, 
and  he  turned  to  me  his  left  side.  I  then  gave 
him  a  deadly  shot,  which  brought  blood  from  his 


HIPPOPOTAMI  —  ELEPHANTS      307 

trunk,  as  I  ascertained  next  day.  Returning  from 
firing  at  him,  I  met  Carey;  his  pluck  had  failed 
him,  and  he  had  dropped  behind.  On  upbraiding 
him  for  not  standing  by  me,  he  swore  stoutly  that 
he  had  stuck  in  the  mud!  as  we  had  to  cross  a 
bog  below  the  fountain  in  running  for  the  shot. 
I  thought  this  was  good,  and  I  said  to  myself,  "  I 
have  got  a  name  for  you  at  last."  But  Carey 
was  a  good  servant,  and  very  attentive  to  me 
throughout  my  expedition. 

The  next  morning  I  and  Mutchuisho  took  up 
the  spoor  of  my  wounded  elephant.  He  had  gone 
off  very  slowly,  with  blood  running  from  his  trunk. 
After  following  the  spoor  some  distance,  we  lost 
it  among  others,  and  we  then  gave  it  up.  I  sent 
Carey  to  the  wagons  with  the  teeth,  to  act  as 
escort,  they  being  well  worthy  of  an  escort,  and 
at  night  I  watched  the  fountain  along  with  three 
Bakalahari.  We  had  not  been  long  on  the  watch 
before  three  enormous  old  bull  elephants  came; 
and,  after  much  hesitation,  and  walking  once  or 
twice  round  the  water,  they  came  in  and  com- 
menced drinking.  I  lay  close  to  the  edge  of  the 
fountain  in  a  little  hollow.  The  elephants  came 
in  to  drink  on  the  north  side  of  a  run  which  led 
away  from  the  fountain,  and  I  lay  on  the  south 
side  of  it.  Suddenly  the  finest  bull  of  the  three 
walked  boldly  through  the  run  and  came  straight 


308  THE  LION  HUNTER 

forward  to  where  I  lay.  If  I  had  remained  still 
he  would  have  walked  upon  me ;  but  when  he  came 
within  six  or  eight  yards  I  gave  a  loud  cough, 
upon  which  he  tossed  his  head  aloft  and  gave  me  a 
broadside,  exposing  his  left  side.  I  then  gave 
him  a  shot  from  the  big  two-grooved  rifle,  and 
he  dashed  off  with  his  two  comrades  in  immense 
consternation,  holding  for  the  Limpopo. 

The  next  day  one  of  my  steeds  died  of  "  tsetse." 
He  had  been  bitten  under  the  mountain  range  lying 
to  the  south  of  this  fountain.  The  head  and  body 
of  the  poor  animal  swelled  up  in  a  most  distressing 
manner  before  he  died.  His  eyes  were  so  swollen 
that  he  could  not  see,  and  in  darkness  he  neighed 
for  his  comrades  who  stood  feeding  beside  him. 


CHAPTER  XI 

ELEPHANTS 

ON  the  17th  of  September  I  resolved  to 
leave  the  fountain  of  Seboono,  as  it  was 
much  disturbed,  and  to  proceed  with  a 
few  Bakalahari  to  a  small  yet  famous  water  about 
six  miles  to  the  southeast.  We  accordingly 
saddled  up  and  held  thither.  On  reaching  this 
fountain,  which  is  called  by  the  natives  "  Paapaa," 
I  found  the  numerous  foot-paths  leading  to  it  cov- 
ered, as  I  had  anticipated,  with  fresh  spoor  of  ele- 
phant and  rhinoceros.  I  then  at  once  proceeded 
to  study  the  best  spot  on  which  to  make  our  shoot- 
ing-hole for  the  night. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  prevent  some  of  the 
game  from  getting  our  wind,  for  the  foot-paths  led 
to  it  from  every  side.  The  prevailing  wind  was 
from  the  east,  so  I  pitched  upon  the  southwest 
corner  of  the  fountain.  The  water  was  not  more 
than  twenty  yards  long  and  ten  broad.  The  west 
side  was  bounded  by  tufous  rock,  which  rose  ab- 
ruptly from  the  water  about  five  feet  high.  The 

top  of  this  rock  was  level  with  the  surrounding 
309 


310  THE  LION  HUNTER 

vley,  and  here  all  the  elephants  drank,  as  if  sus- 
picious of  treading  on  the  muddy  margin  on  the 
other  three  sides  of  the  fountain.  I  made  our 
shooting-box  within  six  or  eight  yards  of  the  water, 
constructing  it  in  a  circular  form,  of  bushes  packed 
together  so  as  to  form  a  hedge  about  three  feet 
high.  On  the  top  of  the  hedge  I  placed  heavy 
dead  old  branches  of  trees,  so  as  to  form  a  fine 
clear  rest  for  our  rifles;  these  clean  old  branches 
were  all  lashed  firmly  together  with  strips  of  thorn 
bark. 

All  being  completed,  I  took  the  Bakalahari  and 
our  steeds  to  a  shady  tree,  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  to  leeward  of  the  fountain,  where  we  formed 
a  kraal  and  off-saddled.  This  day  was  particu- 
larly adapted  to  bring  game  to  the  water,  the  sun 
being  extremely  powerful,  and  a  hot  dry  wind  pre- 
vailing all  the  afternoon.  I  told  Carey  that  we 
were  certain  of  having  a  good  night's  sport,  and  I 
was  right,  for  we  undoubtedly  had  about  the  finest 
night's  sport  and  the  most  wonderful  that  was 
ever  enjoyed  by  man. 

A  little  before  the  sun  went  down,  leaving  our 
kraal,  we  held  to  the  fountain,  having  with  us  our 
heavy-metaled  rifles,  karosses,  and  two  Bakalahari. 
We  also  had  two  small  guns,  my  double-barreled 
Westley  Richards,  and  Carey's  single-barreled  gun. 
As  we  approached  the  fountain,  a  stately  bull 


ELEPHANTS  311 

giraffe  stood  before  us;  the  heat  of  the  day  had 
brought  him  thither,  but  he  feared  to  go  in  and 
drink;  on  observing  us,  he  walked  slowly  away. 
Two  jackals  were  next  detected.  Guinea-fowl, 
partridges,  two  or  three  sorts  of  pigeon  and  turtle- 
dove, and  small  birds  in  countless  thousands,  were 
pouring  in  to  drink  from  every  airt,  as  we  walked 
up  to  our  hiding-place  and  lay  down.  In  a  few 
minutes  the  sun  was  under;  but  the  moon  was 
strong  and  high  (it  being  within  three  nights  of 
the  full),  and  the  sky  was  clear,  with  scarcely  a 
cloud. 

Very  soon  a  step  was  heard  approaching  from 
the  east :  it  was  a  presuming  black  rhinoceros.  He 
came  up  within  ten  yards  of  the  hiding-hole,  and, 
observing  us  with  his  sharp  prying  eye,  at  once 
came  slowly  forward  for  a  nearer  inspection.  I 
then  shouted  to  him;  but  this  he  did  not  heed  in 
the  slightest.  I  then  sprang  up  and  waved  my 
large  kaross,  shouting  at  the  same  time.  This, 
however,  only  seemed  to  amuse  Borele,  for  he  stood 
within  four  yards  of  us,  with  his  horn  threatening 
our  momentary  destruction,  nor  would  he  wheel 
about  until  I  threw  a  log  of  wood  at  him.  Black 
rhinoceroses  are  very  difficult  to  scare  when  they 
do  not  get  the  wind ;  the  best  way  to  do  so  is  to  hit 
them  with  a  stone  —  that  is,  in  the  event  of  the 
sportsman  not  wishing  to  fire  off  his  gun. 


312  THE  LION  HUNTER 

Soon  after  Borele  departed  four  old  bull  ele- 
phants drew  near  from  the  south.  They  were 
coming  right  on  for  the  spot  where  we  lay,  and 
they  seemed  very  likely  to  walk  over  the  top  of  us. 
We  therefore  placed  our  two  big  rifles  in  position, 
and  awaited  their  forward  movement  with  intense 
interest.  On  they  came,  with  a  slow  and  stately 
step,  until  within  twenty  yards  of  us,  when  the 
leading  elephant  took  it  into  his  head  to  pass  to 
leeward.  We  let  him  come  on  until  he  got  our 
wind;  he  was  then  within  ten  yards  of  the  muzzles 
of  our  heavy-metaled  rifles ;  on  winding  us,  he 
tossed  his  trunk  aloft,  and  we  instantly  fired  to- 
gether. I  caught  him  somewhere  about  the  heart, 
and  my  big  six-to-the-pound  rifle  burst  in  Carey's 
hands,  very  nearly  killing  us  both. 

The  elephant,  on  being  fired  at,  wheeled  about, 
and  retreated  to  the  forest  at  top  speed.  I  now 
directed  "  Stick-in-the-mud "  to  make  use  of  his 
single-barreled  twelve-to-the-pound  in  the  event  of 
more  elephants  coming  up ;  and  thanking  my  stars 
that  the  old  Dutch  rifle  had  not  sent  us  both  to  the 
land  of  the  leal,  I  sat  down  and  watched  the  dark 
masses  of  trees  that  cut  the  sky  on  every  side,  in 
the  hope  of  seeing  a  mass  as  high  and  wide  come 
towering  forward  into  the  open  space  that  sur- 
rounded the  fountain. 

Nor  did  I  watch  long  in  vain,  for  very  soon 


ELEPHANTS  313 

three  princely  bull  elephants  appeared  exactly 
where  the  first  came  on,  and  holding  exactly  the 
same  course.  They  approached  just  as  the  first 
had  done.  When  the  leading  elephant  came  within 
ten  yards  of  us,  he  got  our  wind  and  tossed  up  his 
trunk,  and  was  wheeling  round  to  retreat,  when  we 
fired  together,  and  sent  our  bullets  somewhere  about 
his  heart.  He  ran  two  hundred  yards  and  then 
stood,  evidently  dying.  His  comrades  halted  like- 
wise, but  one  of  them,  the  finest  of  the  three,  al- 
most immediately  turned  his  head  once  more  to 
the  fountain,  and  very  slowly  and  warily  came  on. 
We  now  heard  the  wounded  elephant  utter  the  cry 
of  death,  and  fall  heavily  on  the  earth.  Carey, 
whose  ears  were  damaged  by  the  bursting  of  the 
big  rifle,  did  not  catch  this  sound,  but  swore  that 
the  elephant  which  now  so  stealthily  approached 
the  water  was  the  one  at  which  we  had  fired. 

It  was  interesting  to  observe  this  grand  old  bull 
approach  the  fountain ;  he  seemed  to  mistrust  the 
very  earth  on  which  he  stood,  and  smelt  and  ex- 
amined with  his  trunk  every  yard  of  the  ground 
before  he  trod  on  it,  and  sometimes  stood  five  min- 
utes on  one  spot  without  moving.  At  length, 
having  gone  round  three  sides  of  the  fountain,  and 
being  apparently  satisfied  as  to  the  correctness  of 
everything,  he  stepped  boldly  forward  on  to  the 
rock  on  the  west,  and,  walking  up  within  six  or 


THE  LION  HUNTER 

seven  yards  of  the  muzzles  of  our  rifles,  turned  his 
broadside,  and,  lowering  his  trunk  into  the  water, 
drew  up  a  volume  of  water,  which  he  threw  over  his 
back  and  shoulders  to  cool  his  person.  This  oper- 
ation he  repeated  two  or  three  times,  after  which 
he  commenced  drinking,  by  drawing  the  water  into 
his  trunk  and  then  pouring  it  into  his  mouth.  I 
determined  to  break  his  leg  if  possible ;  so,  covering 
the  limb  about  level  with  the  lower  line  of  his  body, 
I  fired,  Carey  firing  for  his  heart.  I  made  a  lucky 
shot ;  and  as  the  elephant  turned  and  attempted  to 
make  away,  his  leg  broke  with  a  loud  crack,  and 
he  stood  upon  his  three  sound  ones.  At  once 
disabled  and  utterly  incapable  of  escaping,  he  stood 
statue-like  beside  the  fountain,  within  a  few  yards 
of  where  he  had  got  the  shot,  and  only  occasionally 
made  an  attempt  at  locomotion. 

The  patch  of  my  rifle  fired  at  this  elephant's 
comrade  had  ignited  a  large  ball  of  dry  old  dung, 
about  eight  yards  to  leeward  of  our  kraal,  and, 
fanned  by  the  breeze,  it  was  now  burning  away 
very  brightly,  the  sparks  flying  in  the  wind.  Pres- 
ently, on  looking  about  me,  I  beheld  two  bull 
elephants  approaching  by  the  self-same  foot-path 
which  the  others  had  held.  The  first  of  these  was 
a  half-grown  bull,  the  last  was  an  out-and-out  old 
fellow  with  enormous  tusks.  They  came  on  as  the 
first  had  done,  but  seemed  inclined  to  pass  to  wind- 


ELEPHANTS  315 

ward  of  us.  The  young  bull,  however,  observed 
the  fire;  he  at  once  walked  up  to  it,  and,  smelling 
at  it  with  his  trunk,  seemed  extremely  amused,  and 
in  a  gamboling  humor  threw  his  trunk  about,  as  if 
not  knowing  what  to  think  of  it.  The  larger  bull 
now  came  up,  and  exposed  a  fine  broadside:  we 
took  him  behind  the  shoulder  and  fired  together: 
on  receiving  the  shots,  he  wheeled  about  and 
held  west  with  drooping  ears,  evidently  mortally 
wounded. 

Some  time  after  this  I  detected  an  enormous  old 
bull  elephant  approaching  from  the  west.  If  we 
lay  still  where  we  were,  he  must  in  a  few  minutes 
get  our  wind,  so  we  jumped  up  and  ran  forward  out 
of  his  line  of  march.  Here  a  borele  opposed  our 
further  progress,  and  we  had  to  stone  him  out  of 
our  way.  The  elephant  came  on,  and  presently 
got  the  wind  of  where  we  had  been  lying.  This  at 
once  seemed  to  awake  his  suspicions,  for  he  stood 
still  among  the  trees,  stretching  his  trunk  from 
side  to  side  to  catch  the  scent,  and  doubtful  whether 
he  should  advance  or  retreat.  We  then  ran  toward 
him,  and  stalked  in  within  forty  yards  of  where 
he  stood,  and,  taking  up  a  position  behind  a  bush, 
awaited  his  forward  movement.  The  elephant 
came  slowly  forward,  and  I  thought  would  pass  to 
windward  of  us,  when  he  suddenly  altered  his 
course,  and  walked  boldly  forward  right  for  where 


316  THE  LION  HUNTER 

we  stood.  He  came  on  until  within  seven  or  eight 
yards,  when  I  coughed  loudly  to  turn  him.  He 
tossed  up  his  trunk  and  turned  quickly  round  to 
fly ;  as  he  turned,  however,  we  fired  together,  when 
the  elephant  uttered  a  shrill  cry  of  distress,  and 
crashed  away,  evidently  hard  hit.  When  this  bull 
was  standing  before  us,  we  both  remarked  that  he 
was  the  finest  we  had  seen  that  night:  his  tusks 
were  extremely  long,  thick,  and  very  unusually 
wide  set. 

We  now  returned  to  the  fountain,  and  once  more 
lay  down  to  watch.  Rhinoceroses,  both  black  and 
white,  were  parading  around  us  all  night  in  every 
direction.  We  had  lain  but  a  short  time  when  I 
detected  a  single  old  bull  elephant  approaching 
from  the  south  by  the  same  path  which  all  the 
others  had  held.  This  elephant  must  have  been 
very  thirsty,  for  he  came  boldly  on  without  any 
hesitation,  and,  keeping  to  windward,  walked  past 
within  about  eight  yards  of  us.  We  fired  at  the 
same  moment;  the  elephant  wheeled  about,  and, 
after  running  a  hundred  yards,  reduced  his  pace 
to  a  slow  walk.  I  clapped  Carey  on  the  shoulder, 
and  said,  "  We  have  him."  I  had  hardly  uttered 
the  words  when  he  fell  over  on  his  side;  he  rose, 
however,  again  to  his  feet.  At  this  moment  the 
same  presuming  borele  who  had  troubled  us  in  the 
early  part  of  the  night  came  up  to  us  again,  and, 


ELEPHANTS  317 

declining  as  before  to  depart  by  gentle  hints,  I 
thought  it  a  fitting  moment  to  put  an  end  to  his 
intrusion,  and  accordingly  gave  him  a  ball  behind 
the  shoulder.  On  receiving  it,  he  galloped  off 
in  tremendous  consternation,  and  passed  close 
under  the  dying  elephant,  who  at  the  moment  fell 
dead  with  a  heavy  crash,  and  broke  one  of  his  hind 
legs  under  him  in  the  fall. 

About  an  hour  after,  two  more  elephants  came 
towering  on  from  the  east.  When  they  came  up 
they  stood  for  a  long  time  motionless  within  forty 
yards  of  the  water;  and  at  length  the  finer  of  the 
two,  which  was  a  very  first-rate  old  bull,  and  carry- 
ing immense  tusks,  walked  boldly  forward,  and, 
passing  round  the  north  side  of  the  fountain,  com- 
menced drinking  on  the  rock  just  as  the  crippled 
bull  had  done.  We  both  fired  together,  holding 
for  his  heart;  the  bullets  must  have  gone  nearly 
through  him,  for  we  had  double  charges  of  powder 
in  our  weapons.  On  receiving  the  shots  he  dropped 
a  volume  of  water  from  his  trunk,  and,  tossing 
it  aloft,  uttered  a  loud  cry  and  made  off,  steer- 
ing north;  but  before  he  was  out  of  our  sight  he 
reduced  his  pace  to  a  slow  walk,  and  I  could  quite 
plainly  hear,  by  the  loud,  painful  breathing 
through  his  trunk,  that  he  was  mortally  wounded ; 
but  whether  the  natives  were  too  lazy  to  seek  him, 
or  having  found  him  would  not  tell  me,  I  know 


318  THE  LION  HUNTER 

not,  but  I  never  got  him.  We  shot  another  bull 
elephant  shortly  after  this ;  he  too  uttered  a  shrill 
cry,  and  went  off  holding  the  same  course  the  last 
one  did;  that  was,  however,  all  that  I  ever  saw 
of  him. 

It  was  now  wearing  on  toward  morning:  the 
moon  was  low  and  the  sky  was  cloudy ;  and  feeling 
very  sleepy,  I  set  the  two  Bakalahari  to  watch 
while  I  lay  down  to  rest.  Carey  was  already  en- 
joying a  sound  sleep,  and  snoring  loudly.  I  had 
lain  nearly  an  hour,  and  was  neither  waking  nor 
sleeping,  when  the  Bakalahari  whispered,  "  Clou 
toona,  macoa,"  which  signifies  "  Bull  elephants, 
white  man."  I  sat  up  on  my  kaross,  and  beheld 
three  old  bulls  approaching  from  the  west.  At 
this  moment  there  was  a  death-like  calm  in  the 
atmosphere,  and  the  sky  looked  very  threatening 
all  along  the  mountain  range  which  bounds  this 
favorite  elephant  district  on  the  southwest.  I 
greatly  feared  a  thunder-storm.  Suddenly  a 
breeze  came  whistling  from  the  mountains,  and 
gave  these  three  elephants  our  wind.  We  then 
left  the  fountain  and  held  to  our  wagons,  where 
we  slept  till  the  sun  rose. 

When  the  sun  rose  I  proceeded  with  the  Bakala- 
hari to  inspect  the  spoors  of  the  wounded  ele- 
phants. I  was  struck  with  astonishment  when  I 
thought  over  our  night's  sport :  nine  times  had  first- 


rate  old  bull  elephants  come  up  to  drink,  and  we* 
had  fired  at  eight  of  these  at  distances  of  from 
six  to  ten  yards,  with  cool,  steady  rests.  Two  of 
them  lay  dead  beside  the  fountain ;  another  had  a 
broken  leg,  and  could  not  escape;  and  the  only 
one  which  we  imagined  had  escaped  was  the  bull 
with  the  wide-set  tusks,  which  we  both  felt  cer- 
tain was  wounded  too  far  back  in  the  body.  The 
event,  however,  proved  that  our  expectations  were 
incorrect,  for  that  afternoon  we  found  this  princely 
elephant  lying  dead  very  near  our  kraal.  Both 
our  shots  were  very  far  back,  wounding  him  some- 
where about  the  kidneys.  We  never  saw  anything 
of  the  four  other  elephants  shot  by  us. 

The  bull  with  the  broken  leg  had  gone  nearly  a 
mile  from  the  fountain  when  we  came  up  to  him. 
At  first  he  made  vain  attempts  to  escape,  and  then 
to  charge;  but  finding  he  could  neither  escape 
nor  catch  any  of  us,  he  stood  at  bay  beside  a  tree, 
and  my  after-riders  began  to  assail  him.  It  was 
curious  to  watch  his  movements  as  the  boys,  at 
about  twenty  yards'  distance,  pelted  him  witht 
sticks,  &c.  Each  thing,  as  it  was  thrown,  he  toolr 
up  and  hurled  back  at  them.  When,  however,  dry 
balls  of  elephants'  dung  were  pitched  at  him,  he 
contented  himself  with  smelling  at  them  with  his 
trunk.  At  length,  wishing  to  put  an  end  to  his  ex- 
istence, I  gave  him  four  shots  behind  the  shoulder, 


320  THE  LION  HUNTER 

when  he  at  once  exhibited  signs  of  distress ;  water 
ran  from  his  eyes,  and  he  could  barely  keep  them 
open;  presently  his  gigantic  form  quivered,  and, 
falling  over,  he  expired.  At  night  we  again 
watched  the  fountain.  Only  one  elephant  ap- 
peared; late  in  the  night  he  came  up  to  leeward, 
and  got  our  wind.  I,  however,  shot  two  fine  old 
muchocho,  or  white  rhinoceroses,  and  wounded  two 
or  three  borele,  which  were  found  by  the  natives. 

On  the  liHh  I  proceeded  with  Carey  and  Piet, 
and  a  few  Bakalahari,  to  a  small  fountain  lying  one 
mile  to  the  south :  here  we  made  two  shooting-boxes 
of  boughs  of  trees.  There  were  three  pools  at 
which  the  game  drank,  the  largest  not  being  more 
than  twelve  feet  in  breadth.  I  and  Carey  at  night 
shot  one  fine  bull  elephant  and  four  rhinoceroses, 
wounding  two  others,  which  escaped.  On  the  night 
following  we  also  wounded  two  elephants,  which 
got  away. 

The  next  night  I  put  in  practice  a  novel  ex- 
periment I  had  long  entertained  —  that  of  hunt- 
ing elephants  by  moonlight  with  dogs  and  horses, 
as  in  the  day,  being  very  much  annoyed  at  wound- 
ing and  losing  in  the  last  week  no  less  than  ten 
first-rate  old  bull  elephants.  I  communicated  my 
idea  to  "  Stick-in-the-mud,"  and  we  hastily  pro- 
ceeded to  saddle  my  steed.  I  led  my  dogs,  eight 
in  number,  through  the  forest  to  leeward  of  where 


ELEPHANTS  321 

a  bull  who  had  come  to  the  fountain  to  drink  had 
gone  in,  and  when  I  saw  that  they  had  got  his 
wind  I  slipped  them.  They  dashed  forward,  and 
next  minute  I  followed  the  baying  of  the  dogs  and 
the  crash  and  the  trumpet  of  the  elephant.  He 
rushed  away  at  first  without  halting,  and  held 
right  for  the  mountains  to  the  southwest.  When, 
however,  he  found  that  his  speed  did  not  avail,  and 
that  he  could  not  get  away  from  his  pursuers,  he 
began  to  turn  and  dodge  about  in  the  thickest  of 
the  cover,  occasionally  making  charges  after  the 
dogs.  I  followed  on  as  best  I  could,  shouting 
with  all  my  might  to  encourage  my  good  hounds. 
These,  hearing  their  master's  voice  beside  them, 
stuck  well  by  the  elephant,  and  fought  him  better 
than  in  the  day.  I  gave  him  my  first  two  shots 
from  the  saddle;  after  which  I  rode  close  up  to 
him,  and,  running  in  on  foot,  gave  him  some  deadly 
shots  at  distances  of  from  fifteen  to  twenty  yards. 
The  elephant  very  soon  evinced  signs  of  distress, 
and  ceased  to  make  away  from  us.  Taking  up 
positions  in  the  densest  parts  of  the  cover,  he 
caught  up  the  red  dust  with  his  trunk,  and,  throw- 
ing it  over  his  head  and  back,  endeavored  to  con- 
ceal himself  in  a  cloud.  This  was  a  fine  oppor- 
tunity to  pour  in  my  deadly  shafts,  and  I  took 
care  to  avail  myself  of  it.  When  he  had  received 
about  twelve  shots,  he  walked  slowly  forward  in 


322  THE  LION  HUNTER 

a  dying  state,  the  blood  streaming  from  his  trunk. 
I  rode  close  up  to  him,  and  gave  him  a  sharp  right 
and  left  from  the  saddle :  he  turned  and  walked  a 
few  yards,  then  suddenly  came  down  with  tremen- 
dous violence  on  his  vast  stern,  pitching  his  head 
and  trunk  aloft  to  a  prodigious  height,  and,  fall- 
ing heavily  over  on  his  side,  expired.  This  was  an 
extremely  large  and  handsome  elephant,  decidedly 
the  finest  bull  I  had  shot  this  year.  Afraid  of 
taking  cold  or  rheumatism,  for  I  was  in  a  most 
profuse  perspiration,  I  hastened  back  to  my  fire- 
side, having  first  secured  all  the  dogs  in  their 
couples.  Here  I  divested  myself  of  my  leather 
trousers,  shooting-belt,  and  veldt-schoens,  and, 
stretched  on  my  kaross,  I  took  tea,  and  wondered 
at  the  facility  with  which  I  had  captured  this 
mighty  elephant. 

Feeling  fatigued,  I  intended  to  lie  down  and  rest 
till  morning.  Just,  however,  as  I  was  arranging 
my  saddles  for  a  pillow,  I  beheld  another  first-rate 
old  bull  elephant  advancing  up  the  vley  from  the 
south.  I  at  once  resolved  that  he,  too,  should  run 
the  gauntlet  with  the  dogs.  In  immense  haste, 
therefore,  I  once  more  pulled  on  my  old  leathers, 
and  buckled  on  my  shooting-belt,  and  ran  down  into 
the  rank  long  grass  beside  the  fountain  to  meet 
him,  armed  with  the  large  two-grooved  rifle,  having 
directed  Carey  and  Piet  to  come  slowly  up  with 


ELEPHANTS  323 

the  dogs  and  my  horse  and  gun  as  soon  as  they 
were  ready.  The  elephant  came  on,  and  stood 
drinking  within  thirty  yards  of  me.  When  I 
saw  Carey  coming  on  with  the  dogs  and  steed,  I 
fired,  but  my  rifle  hung  fire.  The  shot,  however, 
gave  the  dogs  good  courage,  and  they  fought  well. 
The  elephant  took  away  at  a  rapid  pace  toward 
the  other  fountain  where  the  Bechuanas  lay,  and 
at  first  led  me  through  very  bad  wait-a-bit  thorn 
cover,  which  once  or  twice  nearly  swept  me  out  of 
the  saddle.  Presently  he  inclined  to  the  west, 
and  got  into  better  country;  I  then  rode  close  to 
him,  and  bowled  him  over  with  four  shots. 

The  next  morning,  my  ammunition  being  ex- 
pended or  very  nearly  so,  I  dispatched  Carey  to 
camp  for  fresh  supplies.  After  he  had  gone  I 
walked  through  the  forests,  when  I  observed 
"  Frochum  "  snuff  up  the  wind  and  go  ahead.  I 
soon  saw  him  returning,  with  two  jackals  trotting 
behind  him,  so  I  at  once  knew  that  there  was  some 
game  lying  dead  in  advance.  When  I  had  pro- 
ceeded a  little  further  the  dogs  ran  forward,  and 
next  moment  a  rush  of  many  feet  was  heard  charg- 
ing toward  where  I  stood.  It  was  a  troop  of  half- 
grown  lions,  with  a  lioness,  which  dashed  past  me, 
followed  by  the  dogs.  They  had  been  feasting  on 
a  white  rhinoceros,  shot  by  me  two  nights  pre- 
viously, which  I  found  lying  a  little  in  advance. 


324  THE  LION  HUNTER 

Beside  the  carcass  stood  a  fine  fat  calf  —  the  poor 
thing,  no  doubt,  fancying  that  its  mother  slept; 
heedless  of  lions,  and  all  the  other  creatures  that 
had  trodden  there,  it  had  remained  beside  its  dead 
mother  for  a  day  and  two  nights.  Rhinoceros* 
calves  stick  to  their  mothers  long  after  they  are 
dead.  The  next  night  I  was  again  successful  in 
a  night-hunt,  and  bagged  a  very  fine  bull  elephant. 
This  wound  up  my  elephant  night-shooting  for 
that  moon,  for  next  day  there  was  a  most  awful 
thunder-storm,  which  filled  the  forest  with  large 
pools  of  water. 

While  reviewing  my  extraordinary  good  fortune 
during  the  last  week's  hunting,  I  could  not  help 
deeply  regretting  that  I  had  not  earlier  thought 
of  pursuing  the  elephants  at  night  with  dogs  and 
horses:  if  I  had  commenced  with  the  dogs  only  a 
week  sooner,  I  might  have  bagged  eight  or  ten  first- 
rate  bulls,  which  I  knew  were  mortally  wounded, 
but  were,  nevertheless,  not  forthcoming.  The 
ivory  of  these  elephants  would  have  brought  me  in 
upward  of  £200;  and  it  was  vexing  to  think  that 
many,  if  not  all  of  them,  were  lying  rotting  in  the 
surrounding  forest.  My  only  chance  of  finding 
them  was  by  watching  the  vultures;  but  these 
birds,  knowing  that  they  cannot  break  the  skin  of 
the  larger  game,  preferred  remaining  above  and 
around  the  Bechuanas,  where  the  butchering  was 


ELEPHANTS  325 

going  briskly  forward.  They  perched  in  groups 
upon  the  old  branches  of  the  larger  trees,  or  dark- 
ened the  sky  in  hundreds  with  their  broad  and 
shadowy  wings. 

While,  however,  I  mourned  the  loss  of  these 
wounded  elephants,  I  reckoned  that  I  had  been 
favored  with  immense  good  fortune  in  many  in- 
stances during  the  past  week.  Ever  intent  upon 
embellishing  and  increasing  my  princely  collection 
of  African  hunting  trophies,  I  placed  great  value 
upon  any  specimen  I  happened  to  shoot  which  I 
thought  worth  adorning  it.  Thus  I  neglected  my 
real  interest ;  and  instead  of  devoting  my  attention 
to  rendering  my  expedition  profitable,  I  allowed 
this  very  necessary  part  of  the  business  to  remain 
quite  a  secondary  consideration.  Thus,  when  I 
shot  an  ordinary  bull  elephant,  I  was  accustomed 
to  say  to  myself,  "  Ah !  a  good  bull ;  tusks  at  least 
fifty  pounds  each;  4ts.  6d.  a  pound;  bring  me  in 
£22  10s.  Capital  day's  work ;  help  me  to  pay  for 
the  two  horses  that  died  last  week,  or  the  four  that 
are  bitten  with  *  tsetse,'  and  must  die  in  a  week 
or  two." 

But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  I  shot  an  elephant 
with  a  pair  of  tusks  of  unusual  size,  perfection,  or 
beauty,  I  at  once  devoted  them  to  my  collection, 
and  valued  them  at  a  ten-fold  price.  This,  then, 
was  one  thing  in  which  I  reckoned.  I  had  been 


326  THE  LION  HUNTER 

extremely  fortunate  —  I  had  secured  the  finest 
tusks  in  all  that  nest  of  patriarchal  old  bulls  which 
I  had  so  sadly  cut  up  in  one  short  week,  and 
which,  perhaps,  the  summers  of  a  century  had  seen 
roaming  through  these  boundless  forests  in  peace- 
ful security. 

The  night-shooting  being  at  an  end,  on  the  23d 
I  retraced  my  steps  to  the  dead  elephants,  to  assist 
Carey  in  superintending  the  cutting  out  of  the 
ivory,  and  in  escorting  the  same  along  with  our 
supply  of  fat  and  flesh  to  the  wagons.  Early  in 
the  afternoon  we  had  got  all  ready  for  a  start. 
The  Bechuana  captains  who  were  there,  and  had 
appropriated  my  elephants  and  rhinoceroses,  and 
nearly  all  the  fat,  then  brought  up  about  fifty  men, 
who  shouldered  my  impedimenta,  and  we  marched 
for  camp.  Carey  went  in  front,  I  rode  in  the 
middle,  and  my  after-riders  brought  up  the  rear. 

This  long  line  of  naked  savages  thridding  the 
mazes  of  the  forest,  and  bearing  home  the  spoils 
of  a  few  days'  hunting,  formed  a  truly  interesting 
and  unusual  picture.  Every  man  that  was  there 
carried  something  of  mine :  some  led  the  dogs,  some 
carried  the  guns  and  extra  ammunition,  some  cook- 
ing vessels,  axes,  sickles,  water-calabashes,  pro- 
visions, rhinoceroses'  horns,  the  elephants'  teeth, 
and  an  immense  supply  of  flesh  and  fat,  &c.,  &c. 
We  made  the  Limpopo  as  the  sun  went  down,  which 


ELEPHANTS  327 

we  crossed  all  right,  and  brought  everything  safe 
to  camp.  I  made  other  excursions  from  this  en- 
campment in  quest  of  elephants,  in  which  I  was 
very  successful ;  but,  as  they  did  not  differ  in  their 
details  from  the  many  already  described,  I  shall 
not  run  the  risk  of  wearying  my  reader  with  an 
account  of  them. 

On  the  30th  one  of  those  minor  accidents  oc- 
curred which  the  hunter  in  these  parts  must  be 
prepared  continually  to  encounter.  As  I  awoke 
that  morning,  I  heard  a  scream  which  denoted  that 
"'  Prince,"  a  most  worthless  dog,  was  consumed  by 
A  crocodile.  There  were  several  of  these  terrible 
animals  frequenting  the  still  deep  stream  beside 
which  we  lay.  They  seemed  ever  to  be  on  the  look- 
out for  prey,  and  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt 
they  would  have  taken  one  of  us  if  we  had 
ventured  in. 

On  the  2d  of  October,  in  the  morning,  we  packed 
the  cap-tent  wagon,  and  stowed  carefully  away  in 
grass  my  favorite  tusks,  which  I  intended  to  keep 
as  specimens. 

The  next  afternoon,  while  making  for  the 
fountain  called  Setoque,  accompanied  by  Kapain 
and  a  party  from  Bamangwato,  I  observed  a  num- 
ber of  crows  and  vultures,  and  came  across  the 
spoor  of  a  party  of  Bakalahari.  I  at  once  felt 
convinced  that  one  of  my  wounded  elephants  lay 


328  THE  LION  HUNTER 

rotting  near  me,  but,  the  sun  being  nearly  under, 
I  did  not  then  wait,  resolving  to  seek  it  at  another 
time;  Kapain  promised  to  send  two  of  his  com- 
panions early  next  morning  to  see  if  I  had  not 
surmised  correctly.  These  men  next  day  arrived,, 
bearing  some  putrid  fat  which  they  had  got  from 
the  Bakalahari ;  and  I  at  once  said,  "  Oh,  you 
have  found  my  dead  elephant?  "  They  answered, 
"  Yes,  but  the  tusks  are  stolen."  They  also  said 
that  they  had  not  seen  any  others  of  their  tribe, 
but  that  they  had  cut  that  fat  out  of  the  elephant. 
Kapain  then  promised  me  to  do  his  best  to  re- 
cover the  ivory  for  me ;  but  I  found  out,  very  soon 
afterward,  that  he  was  playing  me  false.  Next 
day  I  shot  an  old  bull  elephant. 

On  the  5th  I  began  to  think  of  hunting  no  more 
across  the  Limpopo,  as  the  season  of  rain  was  up ; 
and  any  day  I  might  come  to  the  river,  returning 
from  hunting,  and  find  myself  cut  off  from  camp 
by  a  mighty  stream,  which  would  probably  remain 
impassable  for  months.  I  also  wished  to  save,  if 
possible,  one  or  two  of  my  horses  from  the 
"  tsetse,"  as  my  stud  was  now  reduced  to  five.  I 
therefore  resolved  to  return  at  once  to  camp,  and 
cross  the  Limpopo  no  more.  After  an  early  break- 
fast I  marched  thither,  with  thirteen  Bechuanas 
bearing  the  tusks,  flesh,  &c. 

On  my  way  I  visited  the  remains  of  the  elephant 


ELEPHANTS  329 

which  Kapain's  men  had  found ;  it  was  the  carcass 
of  an  enormous  old  bull,  no  doubt  the  elephant 
which  I  had  first  shot  on  the  night  of  the  16th  of 
last  month,  for  I  had  followed  his  spoor  to  within 
half  a  mile  of  the  spot.  His  tusks  were  stolen  as 
reported;  they  had  not  been  cut  out,  but  drawn. 
The  skull  remained  perfect,  and  was  finely  cleaned 
by  hyaenas,  vultures,  and  insects.  On  beholding 
the  carcass,  I  at  once  knew  that  Kapain  had  lied 
in  saying  that  his  men  had  cut  the  fat  I  saw  with 
them  out  of  the  elephant,  for  it  was  evident  that 
all  the  flesh  and  fat  had  been  at  an  end  many  days 
previously;  the  tusks,  however,  had  quite  lately 
been  drawn,  perhaps  on  the  preceding  day.  I  felt 
quite  certain  that  Kapain  was  deceiving  me,  so  I 
at  once  charged  him  with  falsehood,  and  resolved 
in  my  own  mind  to  take  some  very  strong  measures 
for  the  recovery  of  the  tusks.  I  suspected  that  a 
tribe  of  Bakalahari,  who  lived  not  far  from  the 
elephant,  upon  the  river,  knew  all  about  the  tusks, 
for  there  were  no  other  natives  in  that  district ;  so 
I  resolved  to  ride  to  the  village  early  next  morn, 
and  threaten  to  shoot  the  chief  if  the  teeth  did  not 
quickly  appear. 

Accordingly,  on  the  morning  of  the  6th,  before 
it  was  clear,  four  steeds  were  saddled,  and,  having 
taken  coffee,  I  crossed  the  Limpopo,  accompanied 
by  Carey,  John,  and  Piet,  bearing  double-barreled 


330  THE  LION  HUNTER 

guns,  and  held  down  the  river  side  for  the  BaJca- 
lahari  village,  which  we  made  in  about  an  hour. 
As  soon  as  I  observed  the  houses,  I  dashed  across 
their  corn-lands  at  a  racing  pace  and  was  standing 
in  the  middle  of  the  natives  before  they  were  aware 
of  my  approach. 

The  chief  whom  I  wanted  sat  in  the  forum  with 
most  of  his  men;  so,  dismounting  from  my  horse, 
I  walked  up  to  them,  and  sat  down  on  the  ground 
in  native  custom,  and,  taking  snuff  myself,  handed 
it  round.  While  I  was  doing  this,  John  and 
Carey,  armed,  occupied  the  two  places  of  exit  from 
the  forum.  I  sat  silent  for  a  little,  and  then  said, 
"  My  heart  is  very  bitter  with  the  chief  of  this 
village.  You  were  hungry  and  I  killed  much  flesh 
and  fat  for  you.  I  told  you  that  many  of  my 
elephants  were  lying  dead,  and  that  I  wanted  their 
teeth.  You  promised  me  to  watch  the  vultures, 
and  bring  me  the  teeth.  I  have  traced  your  spoor 
home  from  one  of  these  elephants.  Why  did  the 
tusks  not  come  to  my  wagons?  I  do  not  want  to 
shed  your  blood,  but  I  require  the  teeth  to  be  laid 
immediately  before  me." 

They  all  immediately  exclaimed,  "  The  teeth  are 
forthcoming,  they  are  forthcoming:  wait  a  little, 
chief  of  the  white  men.  We  saw  the  vultures,  and 
hid  the  teeth  for  you."  I  was  delighted  to  hear 
this,  but  I  pretended  still  to  be  very  angry,  and 


ELEPHANTS  331 

answered,  "  My  heart  is  still  very  bitter,  for  you 
should  have  brought  the  teeth  at  once  to  me,  and 
not  caused  me  to  come  with  guns  to  seek  my  teeth." 
The  chief  then  at  once  dispatched  five  or  six  ac- 
tive men  to  bring  the  teeth;  and  Bechuana  beer 
and  porridge  were  placed  before  me.  In  an  hour 
the  men  returned,  bearing  the  tusks  of  my  lost 
•elephant.  I  was  right  glad  to  see  them ;  they 
•were  immense  teeth,  and  very  finely  arched,  and 
almost  perfect.  I  then  chose  some  skins  of  koodoo 
and  blue  wildebeests  out  of  their  kraals  for  pack- 
ing my  ivory  in  the  wagons,  for  which  I  promised 
them  beads ;  after  which  I  returned  to  camp,  the 
natives  going  before  me,  bearing  the  teeth  and 
skins. 

These  men  had  drawn  the  tusks,  and  concealed 
them  somewhere  close  to  the  carcass  of  the  ele- 
phant. Here  they  would  most  probably  have  been 
concealed  until  I  had  left  the  country,  when  they 
would  have  forwarded  them  to  their  chief.  Just 
as  we  reached  the  drift  we  met  a  string  of  natives 
returning  from  my  last  elephant,  bearing  flesh 
and  fat.  This  was  a  fine  opportunity  for  a  seiz- 
ure. I  selected  several  large  bundles  of  the  flesh 
and  some  fat,  and  marched  the  same  to  camp  on 
the  shoulders  of  the  Bakalahari,  along  with  the 
ivory. 

When  Kapain  saw  us  arrive  at  camp,  he  was  ut- 


332  THE  LION  HUNTER 

terly  confounded,  and  began  to  abuse  the  Baka- 
lahari ;  thereupon  I  bundled  him  out  of  the  kraal. 
In  the  afternoon  we  packed  the  ivory  in  the  bag- 
gage-wagon ;  it  had  hitherto  lain  loose  in  the  kraal. 
There  were  fifty-three  tusks  of  bull,  and  seventeen 
tusks  of  cow  elephants.  Three  pairs  of  these 
bulls'  teeth  I  intended  to  keep  in  my  collection ;  in 
the  cap-tent  wagon  were  seven  pairs  of  picked 
bulls'  tusks,  and  two  pairs  of  cow  elephants'  tusks, 
all  of  which  I  likewise  devoted  to  my  collection. 

[Gumming  then  left  the  Limpopo,  proceeding  in 
a  northwesterly  direction.  In  the  mountains  of 
Linguapa  he  enjoyed  fine  sport  with  sable  ante- 
lopes. His  collection  of  South  African  trophies 
being  now  almost  perfect,  on  November  15th  he 
inspanned  for  the  return  trip.  Nearly  all  of  his 
oxen  died,  and  again  he  received  assistance  from 
Dr.  Livingstone.  On  the  20th  of  February,  1848, 
he  arrived  at  Colesberg.  Here  he  stored  his  "  cu- 
riosities," and  outfitted  for  his  fifth,  and  last,  ex- 
pedition into  the  interior. — Ed.] 


CHAPTER  XII 

LIONS BUFFALOES 

ON  the  19th  of  March,  1848,  I  left  Coles- 
berg  with  three  wagons  "  well  manned 
and  stored,"  for  my  fifth  and  last  cruise 
in  the  far  interior.  I  was  joined  by  a  Mr.  Orpen 
(a  mighty  Nimrod),  who,  notwithstanding  my 
representing  to  him  the  dangers  and  hardships  of 
an  elephant  hunting  expedition  in  the  blackest  col- 
ors, kindly  agreed  to  favor  me  with  his  help  and 
company  on  my  lonely  trip.  My  sojourn  in  Coles- 
berg  reduced  me  considerably,  and  I  was  glad  once 
more  to  breathe  the  fresh  air  of  the  country. 

We  got  clear  of  Colesberg  at  about  9  A.  M.,  and 
commenced  our  march  over  the  country  I  have  so 
often  marked  with  my  wheel-tracks,  and  which  my 
reader  must  now  be  fully  acquainted  with.  On 
my  way  I  completely  recruited  my  oxen  and  stud, 
and  prepared  myself  to  take  the  field  with  an  im- 
mense pack  of  stout,  serviceable  dogs.  I  also  en- 
gaged as  after-rider  a  Bushman  named  Booi. 

The  game  became  plentiful  in  about  ten  days 
after  we  left  Colesberg,  but  when  we  came  to  the 
333 


334  THE  LION  HUNTER 

Vet  River  I  beheld  with  astonishment  and  delight 
decidedly  one  of  the  most  wonderful  displays  which 
I  had  witnessed  during  my  varied  sporting  career 
in  Southern  Africa.  On  my  right  and  left  the  plain 
exhibited  one  purple  mass  of  graceful  blesboks, 
which  extended  without  a  break  as  far  as  my  eyes 
could  strain :  the  depth  of  their  vast  legions  cov- 
ered a  breadth  of  about  six  hundred  yards.  On 
pressing  upon  them,  they  cantered  along  before 
me,  not  exhibiting  much  alarm,  taking  care,  how- 
ever, not  to  allow  me  to  ride  within  at  least  four 
hundred  yards  of  them.  On,  on  I  rode,  intensely 
excited  with  the  wondrous  scene  before  me,  and 
hoped  at  length  to  get  to  windward  of  at  least 
some  portion  of  the  endless  living  mass  which  dark- 
ened the  plain,  but  in  vain.  Like  squadrons  of 
dragoons,  the  entire  breadth  of  this  countless  herd 
held  on  their  forward  course  as  if  aware  of  my  in- 
tention, and  resolved  not  to  allow  me  to  weather 
them. 

At  length  I  determined  to  play  upon  their  ranks, 
and,  pressing  my  horse  to  his  utmost  speed,  dashed 
forward,  and,  suddenly  halting,  sprang  from  the 
saddle,  and,  giving  my  rifle  at  least  two  feet  of 
elevation,  fired  right  and  left  into  one  of  their 
darkest  masses.  A  noble  buck  dropped  to  the  right 
barrel,  and  the  second  shot  told  loudly;  no  buck, 
however,  fell,  and  after  lying  for  half  a  minute 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  335 

the  prostrate  blesbok  rose,  and  was  quickly  lost 
sight  of  among  his  retreating  comrades.  In  half 
a  minute  I  was  again  loaded,  and,  after  galloping 
a  few  hundred  yards,  let  drive  into  them,  but  was 
still  unsuccessful.  Excited  and  annoyed  at  my 
want  of  luck,  I  resolved  to  follow  them  up,  and 
blaze  away  while  a  shot  remained  in  the  locker, 
which  I  did ;  until,  after  riding  about  eight  or  nine 
miles,  I  found  my  ammunition  expended,  and  not 
a  single  blesbok  bagged,  although  at  least  a  dozen 
must  have  been  wounded.  It  was  now  high  time 
to  retrace  my  steps  and  seek  my  wagons.  I  ac- 
cordingly took  a  point,  and  rode  across  the  track- 
less country  in  the  direction  for  which  they  were 
steering. 

I  very  soon  once  more  fell  in  with  fresh  herds  of 
thousands  of  blesboks.  As  it  was  late  in  the  day, 
and  I  being  on  the  right  side  for  the  wind,  the 
blesboks  were  very  tame,  and  allowed  me  to  ride 
along  within  rifle-shot  of  them,  and  those  which 
ran  charged  resolutely  past  me  up  the  wind  in 
long-continued  streams.  I  took  a  lucky  course  for 
the  wagons,  and  came  right  upon  them,  having 
just  outspanned  on  the  bank  of  the  Vet  River.  I 
could  willingly  have  devoted  a  month  to  blesbok 
shooting  in  this  hunter's  elysium,  but,  having  heard 
from  a  party  of  Bastards  that  the  Vaal  River  was 
low,  and  being  extremely  anxious  to  push  on,  I 


336  THE  LION  HUNTER 

inspanned,  and  continued  my  march  by  moonlight. 

Before  proceeding  far  we  discovered  the  deeply- 
imprinted  spoor  of  an  enormous  lion,  which  had 
walked  along  the  wagon-track  for  several  hundred 
yards.  We  continued  our  march  till  after  mid- 
night, vast  herds  of  blesbok  charging  from  us  on 
every  side.  Lions  were  heard  roaring  for  the  first 
time  during  this  night.  .  .  . 

On  the  3d  of  May  we  again  inspanned,  and  held 
on  beyond  the  Hart  River.  The  country  to  the 
west  was  not  frequented  by  the  game,  and  here  the 
grass  was  tall  and  rank,  and  covers  of  considerable 
size  of  thorn-trees  and  gray-leaved  bushes  were 
scattered  over  the  landscape :  it  was  a  still  and  se- 
cluded spot.  I  observed  several  vultures  soaring 
over  one  of  these  covers  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
of  the  wagons,  and,  thinking  it  very  probable  that 
they  were  attracted  by  some  lion  devouring  his 
prey,  I  ordered  a  couple  of  horses  to  be  saddled 
and  rode  toward  the  place,  with  one  after-rider  and 
about  a  dozen  of  my  dogs.  I  was  right  in  my  con- 
jecture; for,  as  I  cantered  along,  I  had  the  satis- 
faction to  behold  a  majestic  old  black-maned  lion 
walking  along  parallel  to  me,  and  within  a  hun- 
dred yards.  He  had  not  yet  observed  me:  he 
looked  so  dark,  that  at  the  first  glance  I  mistook 
him  in  the  long  grass  for  a  blue  wildebeest;  next 
moment,  however,  he  turned  his  large,  full,  im- 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  337 

posing  face  to  me,  and  I  knew  that  it  was  he. 
Shouting  to  the  dogs  with  all  my  might,  I  at  once 
dashed  toward  him,  followed  by  my  after-rider  at  a 
respectful  distance  carrying  my  rifle. 

The  lion,  as  I  expected,  was  panic-stricken,  and 
took  to  his  heels,  bounding  through  the  long  grass 
at  top  speed.  The  dogs  went  at  him  in  gallant 
style,  I  following  not  far  behind  them,  and  yelling 
to  encourage  my  pack.  The  lion,  finding  we  had 
the  speed  of  him,  reduced  his  pace  to  a  sulky  trot, 
and  the  dogs  now  came  up  and  followed,  barking 
within  a  few  yards  on  each  side  of  him.  In  half 
a  minute  more  I  had  passed  ahead  and  halted  my 
horse  for  a  shot ;  but,  looking  round  for  my  after- 
rider,  who  carried  my  rifle,  I  beheld  him  slowly  ap- 
proaching with  pallid  countenance  at  least  a  hun- 
dred yards  behind.  The  lion  now  faced  about,  and, 
springing  on  Shepherd,  one  of  my  favorite  dogs, 
he  lay  for  several  seconds  upon  him,  and,  having 
bitten  him  so  that  he  could  not  rise,  continued  his 
course.  A  few  moments  after  he  knocked  over  an- 
other dog,  called  Vixen,  which  escaped  with  a  slight 
scratch. 

The  lion  had  now  gained  the  edge  of  a  small 
cover,  and  Booi,  coming  up  at  a  very  easy  pace, 
handed  me  my  rifle.  In  another  minute  the  noble 
beast  came  to  bay  in  a  thick  bush,  and,  facing 
round,  lay  down  to  await  our  attack.  I  then  rode 


338  THE  LION  HUNTER 

up  to  within  twelve  yards  of  him,  and,  halting  my 
horse,  ended  the  grim  lion's  career  with  a  single  ball 
behind  the  shoulder,  cutting  the  main  arteries  close 
to  the  heart.  On  receiving  the  ball  his  head 
dropped  to  the  ground,  and,  gasping  for  a  mo- 
ment, he  expired.  I  dismounted,  and,  plucking  a 
lock  of  hair  from  his  mane,  placed  it  in  my  bosom 
and  returned  to  camp,  having  been  absent  barely 
ten  minutes. 

After  breakfast  a  party  went  to  inspect  the  lion 
and  bring  home  his  trophies.  On  proceeding  to 
seek  for  Shepherd,  the  dog  which  the  lion  had 
knocked  over  in  the  chase,  I  found  him  with  his 
back  broken  and  his  bowels  protruding  from  a  gash 
in  the  stomach ;  I  was,  therefore,  obliged  to  end  his 
misery  with  a  ball. 

We  marched  again  at  sunrise,  and  at  about  10 
A.  M.  I  drew  up  my  wagons  beside  the  large  pan 
where  I  had  been  storm-stayed  for  a  week  last 
season.  On  the  march  I  shot  a  springbok;  and 
observing  vultures,  Mr.  O.  and  I  rode  toward  them 
with  a  troop  of  the  dogs,  in  the  hope  of  falling  in 
with  a  lion,  but  were  disappointed.  In  the  after- 
noon, directing  the  wagons  to  follow,  I  rode  ahead 
with  Booi,  and  on  reaching  the  next  large  pan 
drew  the  cover  lying  to  the  south  of  it,  expecting 
to  find  a  lion.  When  the  wagons  came  up  I  formed 
my  camp  beside  the  thorn-grove,  and,  observing  a 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  339 

herd  of  blue  wildebeests  making  for  my  cattle,  I 
proceeded  to  waylay  them,  and  fired  two  long  shots. 
Next  minute  Booi  came  up  to  me,  and  said  that  on 
my  firing  he  had  observed  a  lion  stick  his  head  up 
in  the  long  grass  in  the  vley  opposite  to  me.  I 
felt  inclined  to  doubt  the  veracity  of  his  optics.  I 
sent  him  back,  however,  with  instructions  to  bring 
eight  dogs  ;  but  Booi  thought  the  whole  pack  would 
be  better,  and  returned  with  thirty. 

I  then  rode  direct  for  the  spot  where  the  lion  was 
supposed  to  be.  Booi  was  correct ;  and  on  drawing 
near,  two  savage  lionesses  sat  up  in  the  grass  and 
growled  fiercely  at  us.  An  unlucky  belt  of  reeds, 
about  sixty  yards  long  and  twenty  broad,  inter- 
vened between  me  and  the  lionesses,  and  on  per- 
ceiving their  danger  they  at  once  dashed  into  this 
cover:  then  followed  the  most  woeful  cutting  up 
and  destruction  among  my  best  and  most  valuable 
dogs.  The  lionesses  had  it  all  their  own  way.  In 
vain  I  rode  round  and  round  the  small  cover,  en- 
deavoring to  obtain  a  peep  of  them,  which  would 
have  enabled  me  to  put  a  speedy  conclusion  to  the 
murderous  work  within.  The  reeds  were  so  tall 
and  dense,  that,  although  the  lionesses  were  often 
at  bay  within  eight  or  ten  yards  of  me,  it  was  im- 
possible to  see  them.  At  length  one  came  outside 
the  cover  on  the  opposite  side,  when  I  fired  a  shot 
from  the  saddle.  My  horse  was  unsteady;  never- 


340  THE  LION  HUNTER 

theless  I  wounded  her,  and,  acknowledging  the  shot 
with  angry  growls,  she  re-entered  the  reeds. 

A  number  of  the  dogs,  which  had  gone  off  after 
a  herd  of  blue  wildebeests,  now  returned,  and,  com- 
ing down  through  the  long  grass,  started  a  third 
lioness,  which  came  growling  down  into  the  cover 
and  joined  her  comrades.  This  was  the  signal  for 
my  united  pack  to  make  a  bold  sally  into  the  center 
of  the  lions'  den,  when  they  were  savagely  met  by 
the  three  lionesses,  who  rushed  furiously  up  and 
down,  knocking  the  dogs  about  with  just  as  much 
facility  as  three  cats  would  have  disposed  of  the 
same  number  of  mice.  For  several  minutes  noth- 
ing was  to  be  heard  but  the  crashing  of  the  reeds, 
the  growling  of  the  lions,  and  the  barking  and 
shrieking  of  the  mangled  pack :  it  was  truly  a  most 
painful  moment  to  my  feelings. 

Carey,  who  had  come  up  to  assist,  remarked  to 
me  that  "  there  was  an  awful  massacree  going  on 
among  the  dogs ;  "  and  he  was  right.  Night  now 
setting  in  put  an  end  to  this  horrid  work,  and, 
with  feelings  of  remorse  and  deep  regret  at  my 
folly  in  not  having  at  once  called  off  my  poor  dogs, 
I  wended  my  way  to  camp.  On  numbering  the 
slain,  three  of  my  best  hounds  were  found  to  have 
forfeited  their  lives  in  the  unequal  contest,  and 
seven  or  eight  more  were  very  badly  wounded,  ex- 
posing the  most  fearful  gashes,  from  which  several 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  341 

of  them  never  recovered.  While  I  was  occupied 
with  the  lions  my  followers  were  forming  a  kraal  for 
the  cattle. 

Before  the  day  began  to  break  next  morning 
lions  were  heard  roaring  to  the  west :  accordingly, 
I  rode  in  that  direction  with  Booi  and  a  detach- 
ment of  dogs,  still  resolved  to  follow  the  king  of 
beasts,  notwithstanding  the  disasters  of  the  former 
day.  Having  ridden  about  a  mile,  we  reached  the 
end  of  a  long  piece  of  cover,  averaging  a  hundred 
yards  in  breadth,  where  I  at  once  discovered  the 
fresh  spoor  of  a  troop  of  lions.  The  dogs  took 
it  up  and  followed  on  at  a  wary  pace,  the  hair 
bristling  on  their  backs.  On  reaching  the  end  of 
this  cover  a  second  one  appeared  several  hundred 
yards  to  my  right,  while  a  little  to  my  left  was  a 
small  vley,  and  here  I  observed  a  jackal  steal  away, 
while  a  crow  sounded  his  ominous  voice  in  advance. 

These  signs  bid  fair  for  the  proximity  of  lions, 
and  I  remarked  to  Booi  that  we  must  be  upon  them ; 
it  was  so.  Next  morning  I  observed  a  yellowish 
form  on  a  barish  spot  two  hundred  yards  ahead, 
which  we  knew  must  be  the  lion,  and  thither  we 
rode  at  top  speed.  On  observing  us  he  raised  his 
noble  head,  but  quickly  again  laid  it  flat  on  the 
ground,  intending  to  crouch  in  the  hope  that  we 
should  pass  him  by  unnoticed.  Within  twenty 
yards  of  him  lay  a  noble  lioness,  with  two  half- 


342  THE  LION  HUNTER 

grown  young  lions.  On  seeing  that  our  course  was 
direct  for  where  they  lay,  they  bounded  up  and 
charged  for  the  cover  to  our  right,  the  old  lion 
displaying  more  cowardice  than  either  his  royal 
spouse  or  the  young  lions,  and  taking  the  lead 
at  the  best  pace  that  he  could  muster.  I  did  not 
wait  for  my  rifle,  but  shouting  to  my  dogs  I  pressed 
forward  and  tried  to  cut  off  his  retreat.  I  was 
even  with  him  and  the  lioness,  and  within  twenty 
yards,  when  they  reached  the  cover,  which  they 
sullenly  entered.  The  dogs  seemingly  were  appre- 
hensive of  following  too  near  such  dangerous  game, 
probably  warned  by  the  fate  of  their  comrades  on 
the  preceding  day. 

The  noble  game  having  thus  retreated,  I  placed 
Booi  at  one  end  of  the  cover  to  keep  watch,  while 
I  rode  to  the  other  end  to  beat  up  through  the 
center  with  the  dogs.  Twice  I  drew  the  cover  suc- 
cessfully, but  the  third  time  the  dogs  found  the 
lioness  lying  under  a  bushy  tree.  Then  followed 
a  bay,  when  I  rode  up  and  gave  her  both  barrels 
behind  the  shoulder,  which  partially  disabled  her. 
My  third  shot  entered  beside  her  eye  and  blew 
away  the  entire  half  of  her  brain-pan.  When  rid- 
ing up  I  had  heard  a  dog  shriek,  and  on  looking 
round  me  I  beheld  poor  Vitberg,  a  valuable  dog, 
and  one  that  was  extremely  attached  to  me,  lying 
on  the  ground  utterly  disabled,  with  his  hip  so 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  343 

fearfully  mangled  that  I  was  obliged  to  blow  his 
brains  out. 

A  fourth  time  we  drew  the  cover  for  the  old  lion, 
but  were  still  unsuccessful.  Booi  and  I  then 
skinned  the  lioness,  cut  off  her  head,  and  returned 
to  camp.  Shortly  after  reaching  the  wagons  I 
observed  a  blue  wildebeest  approaching  my  cattle, 
which  I  stalked  and  shot.  The  afternoon  set  in 
with  a  most  terrific  hail-storm,  such  as  I  had  never 
before  witnessed ;  many  of  the  stones  were  from  two 
to  three  inches  in  diameter.  The  storm  came  on 
with  a  sound  resembling  the  roaring  of  the  sea:  a 
dense  intervening  fall  of  rain  obscuring  our  view, 
we  were  at  a  loss  to  think  what  it  could  be.  The 
storm  sent  our  cattle  and  horses  flying  before  it 
for  miles  across  the  plain,  and  they  were  hardly  re- 
covered before  the  sun  was  under.  It  blew  a  gale 
of  wind  throughout  the  first  half  of  the  night,  tre- 
mendous showers  of  hail  and  rain  succeeding  one 
another  in  quick  succession,  accompanied  by  ap- 
palling thunder  and  lightning. 

As  the  day  broke  we  heard  lions  moaning  to  the 
west  and  I  rode  in  quest  of  them,  accompanied  by 
Mr.  O.  and  Carey,  with  a  detachment  of  dogs.  In 
drawing  the  cover  beside  which  I  had  found  the 
lions  yesterday,  I  came  upon  two  young  lions,  one 
of  which,  standing  to  give  us  battle,  I  finished  with 
two  shots:  his  comrade  stole  away,  but  after  a 


344  THE  LION  HUNTER 

sharp  burst  the  dogs  ran  him  to  bay,  when  I  rode 
up,  and,  dismounting,  flogged  the  dogs  off,  and 
slew  him  with  a  single  shot  in  the  skull. 

The  next  morning,  which  was  the  9th,  for  sev- 
eral hours  before  the  day  dawned,  a  lion  stood 
roaring  terribly  on  a  bushy  eminence  within  two 
hundred  yards  of  the  wagons,  and  held  west  just 
as  it  became  light,  roaring  occasionally  as  he  went. 
We  determined  to  give  him  battle  if  we  could  only 
find  him,  and  before  it  was  clear  we  were  in  our 
saddles  pricking  along  the  edge  of  the  vley,  ac- 
companied by  about  a  dozen  of  the  dogs,  who 
started  the  noble  beast,  but  he  got  away  unseen  by 
any  of  us. 

Our  dogs  kept  up  an  incessant  barking  during 
the  night,  and  we  imagined  that  lions  were  prowling 
around  our  camp.  In  the  morning,  however,  we 
discovered  that  we  had  been  favored  with  the  pres- 
ence of  far  less  illustrious,  yet  more  presuming 
visitors.  A  pack  of  audacious  hyaenas  had  visited 
our  fireside,  and,  not  content  with  cracking  and 
swallowing  the  bones  which  they  found  there,  they 
had  eaten  our  table-cloth,  which  consisted  of  the 
skin  of  a  sable  antelope,  and  carried  off  the  lid  of 
our  canteen  and  two  large  camp-stools,  which  I 
lately  had  made  to  order  in  Colesberg.  One  of 
these  we  had  the  good  fortune  to  recover,  minus 
the  rheimpies ;  the  other  will  probably  be  found  in 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  345 

after  years,  and  preserved  as  a  Bechuana  or  Bush- 
man relic. 

On  the  12th  I  drew  up  my  wagons  on  the  north 
bank  of  the  famous  Meritsane.  Here  I  had  the 
pleasure  to  find  that,  owing  to  a  large  tract  of  the 
country  having  been  burned  by  the  Bakalahari 
some  months  previously,  and  favored  by  the  rainy 
season,  a  rich  and  verdant  crop  of  young  grass 
had  sprung  up,  giving  the  undulating  plains  a 
fresh  and  vernal  appearance.  I  was  delighted  on 
beholding  this,  for  I  knew  that  it  would  have  the 
effect  of  attracting  the  game  hither  from  all  the 
surrounding  parts,  and  I  confidently  hoped  to  fall 
in  with  elands,  as  they  are  generally  met  with  by 
the  foremost  hunters  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Mer- 
itsane. 

Having  breakfasted,  I  saddled  up  three  of  my 
fleetest  steeds,  and,  accompanied  by  two  after-rid- 
ers, rode  forth  in  a  northerly  direction,  and  care- 
fully sought  for  eland's  spoor.  Presently  I  crossed 
the  old  Kuruman  road,  and  immediately  discovered 
fresh  spoor,  similar  to  that  of  elands,  but,  in  my 
opinion,  a  little  too  large.  In  a  buffalo  country  I 
should  have  at  once  pronounced  it  to  be  the  spoor 
of  buffaloes,  but  these  for  many  years  had  not 
frequented  the  Meritsane,  and  were  not  to  be  ex- 
pected nearer  than  the  Molopo.  Even  in  the  days 
of  Harris,  twelve  years  ago  or  upward,  buffaloes 


346  THE  LION  HUNTER 

had  forsaken  the  Meritsane.  As  I  rode  on,  the 
spoor  became  more  abundant,  and  very  soon  fresh 
dung  disclosed  to  me  that  a  very  large  herd  of  buf- 
faloes had  lately  pastured  there. 

The  spoor  of  zebras,  blue  wildebeests,  harte- 
beests,  and  sassaybies  was  extremely  abundant,  and 
of  all  these  I  fell  in  with  very  considerable  herds. 
I  had  resolved,  however,  not  to  disturb  the  country, 
for  fear  of  starting  any  elands  which  might  be 
there,  and  rode  past,  leaving  them  unmolested. 
After  proceeding  for  many  miles,  I  had  the  mortifi- 
cation to  ascertain  that  only  a  very  few  elands  now 
frequented  these  parts,  and  after  a  fruitless  search 
for  these  few  I  turned  my  face  for  camp,  and  re- 
solved to  fire  into  whatever  game  I  might  fall  in 
with.  I  yached  *  a  large  herd  of  blue  wildebeests 
and  a  herd  of  hartebeests,  and  was  very  unfortu- 
nate, wounding  several,  but  failing  to  secure  one. 
This  was  to  me  most  particularly  annoying,  our 
flesh  in  camp  being  completely  exhausted,  and  my 
large  pack  of  dogs  famishing.  I  resolved,  there- 
fore, to  march  next  morning  for  Lotlokane,  and 
hunt  in  advance  of  the  wagons. 

The  next  day  I  rode  forth  with  one  after-rider, 
resolved  to  do  my  best  to  supply  the  deficiency  in 
camp.  I  directed  the  wagons  to  follow,  and  out- 

*  South  African  dialect,  meaning  to  fall  in  with,  en- 
counter, or  surprise. — Ed. 


LIONS  — BUFFALOES  347 

span  at  the  Flat  Rocks,  half  way  to  Lotlokane.  I 
had  proceeded  but  a  short  distance  when  I  had  the 
satisfaction  to  behold  a  magnificent  herd  of  buf- 
faloes quietly  pasturing  within  half  a  mile  of  me  on 
the  opposite  bank  of  the  Meritsane.  This  was  a 
first-rate  look-out,  and  exactly  what  I  stood  in 
need  of,  considering  the  present  low  state  of  my 
commissariat.  I  returned  to  meet  the  wagons, 
where  I  saddled  another  steed,  named  Brown, 
which  was  steady  under  fire,  and  once  more  rode 
forth,  accompanied  by  Mr.  O.,  with  two  after-rid- 
ers, and  a  large  detachment  of  the  dogs,  resolved 
to  deal  death  among  the  buffaloes.  We  rode  to 
leeward  of  the  herd  to  give  the  dogs  their  wind,  and 
,then  galloped  in  upon  them.  At  first,  bewildered, 
they  stood  gazing  at  us  until  we  were  within  thirty 
yards  of  them,  when,  seeing  their  danger,  a  panic 
spread  throughout  the  whole  herd,  and,  wheeling 
about,  they  crashed  along  through  the  underwood 
in  a  dense  mass,  impeding  one  another's  progress. 
In  two  minutes  I  was  alongside  of  the  herd,  and, 
dismounting,  fired  right  and  left  into  two  old  cows ; 
one  of  these  immediately  dropped  to  the  rear  of 
the  troop,  and,  staggering  for  a  few  seconds,  fell 
over  and  expired.  The  herd  now  left  the  river 
and  doubled  back,  passing  through  a  belt  of  low 
cover.  I  halted  a  moment  to  load.  Following  on, 
I  came  right  upon  the  other  buffalo  that  I  had 


348  THE  LION  HUNTER 

wounded,  standing  with  a  comrade  in  a  dense  bush. 
I  observed  her  before  she  could  charge  me,  and 
three  more  shots  laid  her  low.  The  reports  of 
Mr.  O.'s  gun  now  sounded  ahead,  and,  galloping 
forward,  I  observed  him  to  my  right  actively  en- 
gaged with  four  old  buffaloes,  which  stood  at  bay 
in  a  large  bush  in  the  open  country :  the  herd  had 
vanished.  A  single  buffalo,  however,  was  at  this 
moment  making  off  between  me  and  Mr.  O.,  to 
which  I  gave  chase.  My  after-rider  was  up  first, 
and  headed  it,  when  the  buffalo  charged  him  furi- 
ously, and  next  moment  she  charged  me,  but  my 
trusty  steed  was  too  active  for  her,  and  I  bowled 
her  over  with  two  good  shots  in  the  shoulder.  I 
then  rode  up  to  assist  Mr.  O.  Two  of  the  four 
buffaloes  were  lying  wounded  in  the  bush.  Riding 
up  within  forty  yards  of  them,  I  fired  into  a  fine  old 
cow,  when  she  and  her  comrade  broke  bay,  and 
took  down  to  the  river.  Some  of  my  dogs  now 
came  up  to  my  assistance,  and  brought  the  wounded 
buffalo  to  bay  in  the  stream,  and  two  more  shots 
laid  her  low. 

I  then  rode  to  meet  my  wagons,  which  were 
standing  on  the  rising  ground  above ;  and  as  I  was 
directing  my  men  where  to  draw  up,  I  observed 
two  more  buffaloes  coming  down  the  river's  side, 
which,  observing  us,  took  shelter  in  a  belt  of  lofty 
reeds.  Most  of  my  dogs  having  come  up,  I  re- 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  349 

solved  to  have  another  chase,  and  rode  straight 
for  the  reeds  where  the  buffaloes  had  disappeared. 
I  came  right  upon  a  noble  bull,  within  four  yards 
of  him.  Fortunately  for  me,  he  did  not  charge, 
but  broke  away  up  the  river  side,  followed  by  the 
dogs.  He  led  me  a  sharp  chase,  and  came  to  bay 
at  last,  when  he  fell  with  two  shots  within  thirty 
yards  of  the  second  cow  I  had  shot  in  the  com- 
mencement of  the  chase.  This  made  five  old  buf- 
faloes I  had  bagged  out  of  the  herd ;  Mr.  O.  bagged 
his  two,  making  in  all  seven. 

After  breakfast  I  dispatched  men  with  two  spans 
of  oxen,  directing  them  to  select  four  of  the  fat- 
test buffaloes  and  drag  them  to  the  wagons.  All 
hands  were  busy  butchering  and  salting  until  sun- 
down. In  the  evening  I  went  out  with  my  rifle 
in  quest  of  a  buffalo  calf  which  had  been  left  by 
the  herd  in  the  morning.  On  observing  me,  the 
savage  young  buffalo,  to  my  utter  astonishment, 
turned  upon  me,  and  charged  down  in  the  most 
determined  manner.  I  stood  his  charge,  with  my 
rifle  at  my  shoulder,  and,  covering  his  forehead 
until  he  was  within  four  yards  of  me,  arrested  him 
in  full  career  with  a  ball  in  the  forehead. 

Three  of  the  buffaloes  which  we  had  shot  having 
been  left  in  the  veld,  I  deemed  it  more  than  proba- 
ble that  a  lion  might  be  found  on  some  one  of 
them  if  sought  for  at  early  dawn;  accordingly, 


350  THE  LION  HUNTER 

having  substituted  a  bowl  of  warm  milk  for  coffee, 
I  rode  forth  with  an  after-rider  and  a  troop  of 
my  dogs  to  seek  the  king  of  beasts.  On  gaining 
the  first  buffalo,  I  found  that  my  natives  had  left 
a  flag  of  peace  flying  over  him,  which  had  guarded 
him  from  the  attacks  of  the  beasts  of  prey.  Upon 
the  second  buffalo,  however,  a  hundred  vultures 
were  feasting  merrily;  but,  as  I  approached  the 
third,  the  sudden  rush  of  a  flight  of  vultures  over 
my  head  toward  the  buffalo  told  me  that  some  occu- 
pant which  had  hitherto  kept  them  aloof  had  that 
moment  quitted  the  carcass,  and  on  galloping  for- 
ward and  clearing  an  intervening  rising  ground, 
I  had  the  satisfaction  to  behold  a  huge  and  shaggy 
lion  trotting  slowly  off  toward  the  cover  along 
the  banks  of  the  river,  within  two  hundred  yards 
of  me. 

I  instantly  rode  for  him  at  top  speed  to  get  my 
dogs  clear  of  the  carrion,  and,  if  possible,  to  bring 
the  lion  to  bay  before  he  should  gain  any  bad  cover. 
We  came  up  with  him  just  as  he  gained  a  small 
belt  of  reeds  on  the  river's  bank.  The  lion  sprang 
into  the  river's  bed  and  stood  at  bay.  Riding  up 
within  fifteen  yards,  I  disabled  him  with  a  shot  in 
the  shoulder,  and  then,  springing  from  my  horse, 
which  was  unsteady,  went  up  to  within  twelve  yards 
on  foot,  and  finished  him  with  my  second  shot, 
which  he  got  behind  the  shoulder.  This  was  a 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  351 

fine  old  lion,  with  perfect  tusks  and  a  very  beau- 
tiful coat  of  hair.  Leaving  Booi  to  protect  him 
from  the  vultures,  I  rode  to  camp,  and  dispatched 
men  with  instructions  to  flay  him  with  the  utmost 
care.  In  the  afternoon  I  inspanned,  intending  to 
march,  but  continued  showers  of  rain  prevented  me. 
Next  day,  however,  we  reached  Lotlokane.  .  .  . 

On  the  25th  of  July,  at  sunrise,  we  inspanned 
and  held  down  the  river,  leaving  three  more  of  my 
stud  behind  me,  two  dead  and  the  other  dying  of 
tsetse.  At  sundown  we  halted  about  twenty  miles 
down  the  river.  While  on  our  march  next  morn- 
ing we  came  across  the  fresh  spoor  of  a  troop  of 
bull  elephants,  when  I  immediately  outspanned.  I 
was  proceeding  to  follow  up  the  elephants'  spoor, 
when  I  was  met  by  a  party  of  Bakalahari,  who  in- 
formed me  that  other  elephants  had  drunk  on  the 
opposite  side,  and  some  miles  higher  up  the  river, 
during  the  night.  I  resolved  to  go  there  in  quest 
of  them. 

We  crossed  the  Limpopo  at  a  most  rocky  drift, 
where  the  horses  were  in  danger  of  breaking  their 
legs,  and,  holding  up  the  river,  took  up  the  spoor 
of  three  old  bulls.  Having  followed  it  for  five 
miles,  we  at  length  got  into  a  country  so  densely 
covered  with  locusts  that  the  spoor  was  no  longer 
visible.  A  large  herd  of  elephants  had,  during 
several  previous  nights,  however,  been  there  feast- 


352  THE  LION  HUNTER 

ing  upon  these  insects.  After  a  little  while  we 
made  a  cast  in  advance,  and  again  discovered  the 
spoor  of  the  three  bulls,  and  came  up  with  them 
about  an  hour  before  sundown,  in  company  with 
a  noble  troop  of  about  fifteen  other  bull  elephants, 
and,  the  wind  being  favorable,  they  were  not  aware 
of  our  approach. 

While  riding  slowly  round  them  on  the  lee  side, 
endeavoring  to  select  the  best  bull,  a  splendid  fel- 
low broke  across  from  my  right,  whose  ivory  far 
surpassed  any  other  in  the  herd.  To  him  I  accord- 
ingly adhered,  and  laid  him  low  after  an  easy  bat- 
tle, having  only  given  him  five  shots.  I  received  no 
assistance  from  my  dogs,  as  is  often  the  case,  hav- 
ing packed  upon  the  worst  elephant  in  the  troop. 
The  tusks  of  this  huge  elephant  being  unusually 
perfect,  I  resolved  to  preserve  the  entire  skull.  I 
accordingly  sent  a  messenger  to  camp  to  instruct 
my  people  to  bring  a  wagon  for  the  head,  while  I 
stood  sentry  over  it.  Three  days  passed  before 
the  wagon  appeared,  having  had  to  cross  the  Lim- 
popo at  a  ford  many  miles  above  my  camp.  I  oc- 
cupied myself  in  the  meantime  in  preparing  the 
feet  of  the  elephant,  which  I  preserved. 

In  a  few  days  we  reached  the  fountain  of  Se- 
boono,  at  which  I  watched  for  several  nights,  and 
slew  some  fine  old  elephants  with  splendid  tusks. 
I  hunted,  as  during  last  season,  by  moonlight  with 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  85S 

dogs,  and  by  the  24th  of  August  had  the  satisfac- 
tion of  making  up  my  bag  to  a  hundred  and  five 
select  elephants  killed  in  South  Africa.  We  now 
found  the  district  to  be  much  deserted  by  the  ele- 
phants, and  accordingly  inspanned  the  wagons  on 
the  3d  of  September,  and  marched  down  the  Lim- 
popo toward  the  district  frequented  by  hippopot- 
ami. 

On  the  4th  I  rode  up  the  river  to  shoot  hippo- 
potami. Of  these  I  found  three  troops,  and  bagged 
one  first-rate  bull  and  wounded  others.  I  saw  sev- 
eral crocodiles  of  unusual  vastness.  Some  of  them 
must  have  been  sixteen  feet  in  length,  with  bodies 
as  large  as  that  of  an  ox.  Returning  to  the  wagons 
in  the  evening,  I  heard  Mr.  O.  engaged  with  a 
huge,  invincible  old  bull  hippopotamus.  On  going 
to  his  assistance,  and  finding  that  he  had  expended 
his  ammunition,  I  attacked  the  hippopotamus, 
which  I  barely  finished  with  six  or  eight  more  shots. 

We  rode  down  the  river  for  several  mornings 
hunting  after  hippopatami,  a  great  number  of 
which  we  killed.  As  the  tusks  of  some  of  these 
were  very  fine,  we  chopped  them  out  of  the  jaw- 
bones, a  work  of  considerable  difficulty.  On  the 
17th  I  was  attacked  with  acute  rheumatic  fever, 
which  kept  me  to  my  bed,  and  gave  me  excruciating 
pain.  While  I  lay  in  this  helpless  state,  Mr.  Orpen 
and  Present,  who  had  gone  up  the  river  to  shoot 


354-  THE  LION  HUNTER 

sea-cows,  fell  in  with  an  immense  male  leopard, 
which  the  latter  wounded  very  badly.  They  then 
sent  natives  to  camp  to  ask  me  for  dogs,  of  which 
I  sent  them  a  pair. 

In  about  an  hour  the  natives  came  running  to 
camp  and  said  that  Orpen  was  killed  by  the  leop- 
ard. On  further  inquiry,  however,  I  found  that 
he  was  not  really  killed,  but  fearfully  torn  and 
bitten  about  the  arms  and  head.  They  had  rashly 
taken  up  the  spoor  on  foot,  the  dogs  following  be- 
hind them,  instead  of  going  in  advance.  The  con- 
sequence of  this  was,  that  they  ca'me  right  upon 
the  leopard  before  they  were  aware  of  him,  when 
Orpen  fired  and  missed  him.  The  leopard  then 
sprang  on  his  shoulders,  and,  dashing  him  to  the 
ground,  lay  upon  him  growling  and  lacerating 
his  hands,  arms,  and  head  most  fearfully.  Pres- 
ently the  leopard  permitted  Orpen  to  rise  and  come 
away.  Where  were  the  gallant  Present  and  all  the 
natives,  that  not  a  man  of  them  moved  to  assist 
the  unfortunate  Orpen?  According  to  an  estab- 
lished custom  among  all  colonial  servants,  the  in- 
stant the  leopard  sprang  he  discharged  his  piece  in 
the  air,  and  then,  dashing  it  to  the  ground,  rushed 
down  the  bank  and  sprang  into  the  river,  along 
which  he  swam  some  hundred  yards  before  he  would 
venture  on  terra  firma.  The  natives,  though  nu- 
merous and  armed,  had  fled  in  another  direction. 


CHAPTER  XIH 

LIONS BUFFALOES GIRAFFES 

BOTH  Orpen  and  myself  were  now  reduced 
to  a  state  of  utter  helplessness  —  he  from 
his  wounds,  which  were  many  and  danger- 
ous, and  I  from  the  fever,  though  I  was  slowly  re- 
covering. It  was  of  no  use,  therefore,  to  remain 
longer  in  the  low-lying  district  about  the  Limpopo, 
so  I  resolved  to  march  on  steadily  to  Sichely's 
country.  We  accordingly  marched  on  the  27th  of 
September,  and  on  the  2d  of  October  encamped  on 
the  bank  of  the  Limpopo,  a  little  above  its  junc- 
tion with  the  Lepalala.  Here  Seleka's  men  re- 
quested me  to  halt  a  day,  as  their  chief  wished  to 
trade  with  me,  which  I  agreed  to  do.  .  .  . 

On  the  13th  we  made  the  bank  of  the  Ngotwani, 
up  which  we  proceeded  for  several  days ;  but,  find- 
ing that  there  was  scarcely  any  water  in  it,  and  that 
it  would  be  impossible  to  reach  Sichely's  country 
by  this  route,  I  determined  to  retrace  my  steps. 
We  accordingly  marched  for  the  Limpopo,  which 
I  fell  in  with  once  more  on  the  23d,  having  killed 
a  noble  old  lion  on  my  way. 

We  trekked  up  along  the  banks  of  the  river  for 
355 


356  THE  LION  HUNTER 

the  Mariqua,  and  a  little  before  sundown  fell  in 
with  two  enormous  herds  of  buffaloes,  one  of  which, 
consisting  chiefly  of  bulls,  stood  under  the  shady 
trees  on  one  side  of  the  bank,  while  the  other,  com- 
posed chiefly  of  cows  and  calves,  stood  on  the  op- 
posite side,  a  little  higher  up  the  river.  In  all 
there  were  at  least  three  hundred. 

Thinking  it  probable  that  if  I  hunted  them  I 
might  kill  some  old  bull  with  a  head  perhaps  worthy 
of  my  collection,  I  ordered  my  men  to  outspan, 
and,  having  saddled  steeds,  gave  chase  to  the  herd 
of  bulls,  accompanied  by  Booi  and  my  dogs.  After 
a  short  burst  they  took  through  the  river,  whereby 
I  lost  sight  of  an  old  bull  which  carried  the  finest 
head  in  the  herd.  My  dogs,  however,  brought  a 
cow  to  bay  as  they  crossed  the  river,  which  I  shot 
standing  in  the  water,  but  not  before  she  had  killed 
a  particularly  favorite  bull-dog  named  Pompey. 
I  then  continued  the  chase,  and  again  came  up 
with  the  herd,  which  was  now  considerably  scat- 
tered ;  and  after  a  sharp  chase,  part  of  which  was 
through  thick  wait-a-bit  thorn  cover,  I  brought 
eight  or  nine  fine  bulls  to  bay  in  lofty  reeds  at  the 
river's  margin,  exactly  opposite  to  my  camp:  of 
these  I  singled  out  the  two  best  heads,  one  of  which 
I  shot  with  five  balls,  and  wounded  the  other  badly, 
but  he  made  off  while  I  was  engaged  with  his  com- 
rade. 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  —  GIRAFFES      357 

In  the  morning  I  instructed  four  of  my  people  to 
cross  the  river  and  bring  over  a  supply  of  buffalo 
beef.  These  men  were  very  reluctant  to  go,  fear- 
ing a  lion  might  have  taken  possession  of  the  car- 
cass. On  proceeding  to  reconnoiter  from  our  side, 
they  beheld  the  majestic  beast  they  dreaded  walking 
slowly  up  the  opposite  bank  from  the  dead  buffalo, 
and  taking  up  a  position  on  the  top  of  the  bank 
under  some  shady  thorn-trees.  I  resolved  to  give 
him  battle,  and  rode  forth  with  my  double-barreled 
Westley  Richards  rifle,  followed  by  men  leading  the 
dogs.  Present,  who  was  one  of  the  party,  carried 
his  roer,  no  doubt  to  perform  wonders. 

The  wind  blew  up  the  river;  I  held  up  to  seek 
a  drift,  and  crossed  a  short  distance  above  where 
the  buffalo  lay.  As  we  drew  near  the  spot,  I  ob- 
served the  lion  sitting  on  the  top  of  the  bank,  ex- 
actly where  he  had  been  seen  by  my  people.  On 
my  right,  and  within  two  hundred  yards  of  me,  was 
a  very  extensive  troop  of  pallahs,  which  antelopes 
invariably  manage  to  be  in  the  way  when  they  are 
not  at  all  wanted.  On  this  occasion,  however,  I 
succeeded  in  preventing  my  dogs  from  observing 
them.  When  the  lion  saw  us  coming,  he  overhauled 
us  for  a  moment,  and  then  slunk  down  the  bank  for 
concealment.  Being  well  to  leeward  of  him,  I  or- 
dered the  dogs  to  be  slipped,  and  galloped  for- 
ward. 


358  THE  LION  HUNTER 

On  finding  that  he  was  attacked,  the  lion  at  first 
made  a  most  determined  bolt  for  it,  followed  by 
all  the  dogs  at  a  racing  pace ;  and  when  they  came 
up  with  him  he  would  not  bay,  but  continued  his 
course  down  the  bank  of  the  river,  keeping  close  in 
beside  the  reeds,  growling  terribly  at  the  dogs, 
which  kept  up  an  incessant  angry  barking.  The 
bank  of  the  river  was  intersected  by  deep  water- 
courses, and,  the  ground  being  extremely  slippery 
from  the  rain  which  had  fallen  during  the  night, 
I  was  unable  to  overtake  him  until  he  came  to  bay 
in  a  patch  of  lofty  dense  reeds  which  grew  on  the 
lower  bank,  immediately  adjacent  to  the  river's 
margin.  I  had  brought  out  eleven  of  my  dogs, 
and  before  I  could  come  up  three  of  them  were 
killed. 

On  reaching  the  spot  I  found  it  impossible  to 
obtain  the  smallest  glimpse  of  the  lion,  although 
the  ground  favored  me,  I  having  the  upper  bank 
to  stand  upon ;  so,  dismounting  from  my  horse,  I 
tried  to  guess,  from  his  horrid  growling,  his  exact 
position,  and  fired  several  shots  on  chance,  but  none 
of  these  hit  him.  I  then  commenced  pelting  him 
with  lumps  of  earth  and  sticks,  there  being  no 
stones  at  hand.  This  had  the  effect  of  making  him 
shift  his  position,  but  he  still  kept  in  the  densest 
part  of  the  reeds,  where  I  could  do  nothing  with 
him. 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  —  GIRAFFES      359 

Presently  my  followers  came  up,  who,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course,  at  once  established  themselves  safely 
in  the  tops  of  thorn-trees.  After  about  ten  min- 
utes' bulh'ing,  the  lion  seemed  to  consider  his  quar- 
ters too  hot  for  him,  and  suddenly  made  a  rush  to 
escape  from  his  persecutors,  continuing  his  course 
down  along  the  edge  of  the  river.  The  dogs,  how- 
ever, again  gave  him  chase,  and  soon  brought  him  to 
bay  in  another  dense  patch  of  reeds,  just  as  bad  as 
the  last.  Out  of  this  in  a  few  minutes  I  managed 
to  start  him,  when  he  bolted  up  the  river,  and 
came  to  bay  in  a  narrow  strip  of  reeds.  Here  he 
lay  so  close  that  for  a  long  time  I  could  not  ascer- 
tain his  whereabouts ;  at  length,  however,  he  made 
a  charge  among  the  dogs,  and,  coming  forward, 
took  up  a  position  near  the  outside  of  the  reeds, 
where  for  the  first  time  I  was  enabled  to  give  him 
a  shot.  My  ball  entered  his  body  a  little  behind 
the  shoulder.  On  receiving  it,  he  charged  growling 
after  the  dogs,  but  not  further  than  the  edge  of 
the  reeds,  out  of  which  he  was  extremely  reluctant 
to  move.  I  gave  him  a  second  shot,  firing  for  his 
head;  my  ball  entered  at  the  edge  of  his  eye,  and 
passed  through  the  back  of  the  roof  of  his  mouth. 

The  lion  then  sprang  up,  and,  facing  about, 
dashed  through  the  reeds  and  plunged  into  the 
river,  across  which  he  swam,  dyeing  the  waters 
with  his  blood ;  one  black  dog,  named  "  Schwart," 


360  THE  LION  HUNTER 

alone  pursued  him.  A  huge  crocodile,  attracted  by 
the  blood,  followed  in  their  wake,  but  fortunately 
did  not  take  my  dog,  which  I  much  feared  he  would 
do.  Present  fired  at  the  lion  as  he  swam,  and 
missed  him ;  both  my  barrels  were  empty.  Before, 
however,  the  lion  could  make  the  opposite  bank,  I 
had  one  loaded  without  patch,  and  just  as  his  feet 
gained  the  ground  I  made  a  fine  shot  at  his  neck, 
and  turned  him  over  dead  on  the  spot. 

Present,  Carollus,  and  Adonis  then  swam  in  and 
brought  him  through.  We  landed  him  by  an  old 
hippopotamus  foot-path,  and,  the  day  being  damp 
and  cold,  we  kindled  a  fire,  beside  which  we  skinned 
him.  While  this  was  going  forward  I  had  a  pain- 
ful duty  to  perform,  viz.,  to  load  one  barrel,  and 
blow  out  Rascality's  brains,  whom  the  lion  had 
utterly  disabled  in  his  after-quarters.  Thus  ended 
this  protracted  and  all  but  unsuccessful  hunt ;  for 
when  I  at  length  managed  to  shoot  him,  the  dogs 
were  quite  tired  of  it,  and,  the  reeds  being  green, 
I  could  not  have  set  them  on  fire  to  force  him  out. 

The  lion  proved  to  be  a  first-rate  one ;  he  was  in 
the  prime  of  life,  and  had  an  exquisitely  beautiful 
coat  of  hair.  His  mane  was  not  very  rank;  his 
awful  teeth  were  quite  perfect,  a  thing  which  in 
lions  of  his  age  is  rather  unusual ;  and  he  had  the 
finest  tuft  of  hair  on  the  end  of  his  tail  that  I  had 
ever  seen  in  a  lion.  In  the  chase  my  after-rider, 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  —  GIRAFFES      361 

who  fortunately  did  not  carry  my  rifle,  got  a 
tremendous  capsize  from  bad  riding,  a  common 
occurrence  with  most  after-riders  who  have  been 
employed  in  my  service.  The  afternoon  was  spent 
in  drying  the  wet  mane  of  the  lion,  skinning  out 
the  feet,  and  preserving  the  skin  with  alum  and 
arsenical  soap.  .  .  . 

A  few  days  after  this,  just  as  Swint  had  milked 
the  cows,  and  was  driving  them  from  the  wooded 
peninsula  in  which  we  lay,  athwart  the  open 
ground,  to  graze  with  my  other  cattle  in  the  forest 
beyond,  he  beheld  four  majestic  lions  walk  slowly 
across  the  vley,  a  few  hundred  yards  below  my 
camp,  and  disappear  over  the  river's  bank  at  a  fa- 
vorite drinking-place.  These  mighty  monarchs  of 
the  waste  had  been  holding  a  prolonged  repast  over 
the  carcass  of  some  zebras  killed  by  Present,  and 
had  now  come  down  to  the  river  to  slake  their 
thirst. 

This  being  reported,  I  instantly  saddled  up  two 
horses,  and,  directing  my  boys  to  lead  after  me  as 
quickly  as  possible  my  small  remaining  pack  of 
sore-footed  dogs,  I  rode  forth,  accompanied  by 
Carey  carrying  a  spare  gun,  to  give  battle  to  the 
four  grim  lions.  As  I  rode  out  of  the  peninsula, 
they  showed  themselves  on  the  bank  of  the  river, 
and,  guessing  that  their  first  move  would  be  a  dis- 
graceful retreat,  I  determined  to  ride  so  as  to 


362  THE  LION  HUNTER 

make  them  think  I  had  not  observed  them,  until 
I  should  be  able  to  cut  off  their  retreat  from  the 
river,  across  the  open  vley,  to  the  endless  forest 
beyond.  That  point  being  gained,  I  knew  that 
they,  still  doubtful  of  my  having  observed  them, 
would  hold  their  ground  on  the  river's  bank  until 
my  dogs  came  up,  when  I  could  more  advantage- 
ously make  the  attack. 

I  cantered  along,  holding  as  if  I  meant  to  pass 
the  lions  at  a  distance  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  until 
I  was  opposite  to  them,  when  I  altered  my  course, 
and  inclined  a  little  nearer.  The  lions  then  showed 
symptoms  of  uneasiness:  they  rose  to  their  feet, 
and,  overhauling  us  for  a  half  a  minute,  disap- 
peared over  the  bank.  They  reappeared,  how- 
ever, directly,  a  little  further  down;  and,  finding 
that  their  present  position  was  bare,  they  walked 
majestically  along  the  top  of  the  bank  to  a  spot 
a  few  hundred  yards  lower,  where  the  bank  was 
well  wooded.  Here  they  seemed  half  inclined  to 
await  my  attack;  two  stretched  out  their  massive 
arms,  and  lay  down  in  the  grass,  and  the  other  two 
sat  up  like  dogs  upon  their  haunches. 

Deeming  it  probable  that  when  my  dogs  came 
up  and  I  approached  they  would  still  retreat  and 
make  a  bolt  across  the  open  vley,  I  directed  Carey 
to  canter  forward  and  take  up  the  ground  in  the 
center  of  the  vley  about  four  hundred  yards  in 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  —  GIRAFFES     363 

advance,  whereby  the  lions  would  be  compelled 
either  to  give  us  battle  or  swim  the  river,  which, 
although  narrow,  I  knew  they  would  be  very  re- 
luctant to  do. 

I  now  sat  in  my  saddle,  anxiously  awaiting  the 
arrival  of  the  dogs,  and,  while  thus  momentarily 
disengaged,  was  much  struck  with  the  majestic 
and  truly  appalling  appearance  which  these  four 
lions  exhibited.  They  were  all  full-grown,  im- 
mense males ;  and  I  felt,  I  must  confess,  a  little 
nervous,  and  very  uncertain  as  to  what  might  be 
the  issue  of  the  attack. 

When  the  dogs  came  up  I  rode  right  in  toward 
the  lions.  They  sprang  to  their  feet  and  trotted 
slowly  down  along  the  bank  of  the  river,  once  or 
twice  halting  and  facing  about  for  half  a  minute. 
Immediately  below  them  there  was  a  small  deter- 
mined bend  in  the  stream,  forming  a  sort  of  penin- 
sula. Into  this  bend  they  disappeared,  and  next 
moment  I  was  upon  them  with  my  dogs.  They 
had  taken  shelter  in  a  dense  angle  of  the  penin- 
sula, well  sheltered  by  high  trees  and  reeds.  Into 
this  retreat  the  dogs  at  once  boldly  followed  them, 
making  a  loud  barking,  which  was  instantly  fol- 
lowed by  the  terrible  voices  of  the  lions,  which 
turned  about  and  charged  to  the  edge  of  the  cover. 
Next  moment,  however,  I  heard  them  plunge  into 
the  river,  when  I  sprang  from  my  horse,  and,  run- 


364-  THE  LION  HUNTER 

ning  to  the  top  of  the  bank,  saw  three  of  them 
ascending  the  opposite  bank,  the  dogs  following. 
One  of  them  bounded  away  across  the  open  plain 
at  top  speed;  but  the  other  two,  finding  them" 
selves  followed  by  the  dogs,  immediately  turned  to 
bay. 

It  was  now  my  turn;  so,  taking  them  coolly 
right  and  left  with  my  little  rifle,  I  made  the  most 
glorious  double  shot  that  a  sportsman's  heart  could 
desire,  disabling  them  both  in  the  shoulder  be- 
fore they  were  even  aware  of  my  position.  Then 
snatching  my  other  gun  from  Carey,  who  that  mo- 
ment had  ridden  up  to  my  assistance,  I  finished  the 
first  lion  with  a  shot  about  the  heart,  and  brought 
the  second  to  a  standstill  by  disabling  him  in  his 
hind  quarters.  He  quickly  crept  into  a  dense, 
wide,  dark  green  bush,  in  which  for  a  long  time 
it  was  impossible  to  obtain  a  glimpse  of  him.  At 
length  a  clod  of  earth  falling  near  his  hiding- 
place,  he  made  a  move  which  disclosed  to  me  his 
position,  when  I  finished  him  with  three  more  shots, 
all  along  the  middle  of  his  back. 

Carey  swam  across  the  river  to  flog  off  the 
dogs;  and  when  these  came  through  to  me,  I  beat 
up  the  peninsula  in  quest  of  the  fourth  lion,  which 
had,  however,  made  off.  We  then  crossed  the 
river  a  little  higher  up,  and  proceeded  to  inspect 
the  noble  prizes  I  had  won.  Both  lions  were  well 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  —  GIRAFFES      365 

up  in  their  years ;  I  kept  the  skin  and  skull  of  the 
finest  specimen,  and  only  the  nails  and  tail  of  the 
other,  one  of  whose  canine  teeth  was  worn  down 
to  the  socket  with  caries,  which  seemed  very  much 
to  have  affected  his  general  condition.  .  .  . 

On  the  forenoon  of  the  26th  I  rode  forth  to  hunt, 
accompanied  by  Ruyter ;  we  held  west,  skirting  the 
wooded  stony  mountains.  The  natives  had  here 
many  years  before  waged  successful  war  with  ele- 
phants, four  of  whose  skulls  I  found.  Presently 
I  came  across  two  sassaybies,  one  of  which  I 
knocked  over;  but  while  I  was  loading  he  regained 
his  legs  and  made  off.  We  crossed  a  level  stretch 
of  forest,  holding  a  northerly  course  for  an  oppo- 
site range  of  green,  well-wooded  hills  and  valleys. 
Here  I  came  upon  a  troop  of  six  fine  old  bull  buf- 
faloes, into  which  I  stalked,  and  wounded  one 
princely  fellow  very  severely  behind  the  shoulder, 
bringing  blood  from  his  mouth ;  he,  however,  made 
off  with  his  comrades,  and,  the  ground  being  very 
rough,  we  failed  to  overtake  him.  They  held  for 
the  Ngotwani.  After  following  the  spoor  for  a 
couple  of  miles,  we  dropped  it,  as  it  led  right  away 
from  camp. 

Returning  from  this  chase,  we  had  an  adven- 
ture with  another  old  bull  buffalo,  which  shows 
the  extreme  danger  of  hunting  buffaloes  without 
dogs.  We  started  him  in  a  green  hollow  among 


366  THE  LION  HUNTER 

the  hills,  and,  his  course  inclining  for  camp,  I 
gave  him  chase.  He  crossed  the  level  broad  strath 
and  made  for  the  opposite  densely-wooded  range 
of  mountains.  Along  the  base  of  these  we  fol- 
lowed him,  sometimes  in  view,  sometimes  on  the 
spoor,  keeping  the  old  fellow  at  a  pace  which  made 
him  pant.  At  length,  finding  himself  much  dis- 
tressed, he  had  recourse  to  a  singular  stratagem. 
Doubling  round  some  thick  bushes  which  obscured 
him  from  our  view,  he  found  himself  beside  a 
small  pool  of  rainwater,  just  deep  enough  to  cover 
his  body;  into  this  he  walked,  and,  facing  about, 
lay  gently  down  and  awaited  our  on-coming,  with 
nothing  but  his  old  gray  face  and  massive  horns 
above  the  water,  and  these  concealed  from  view  by 
rank  overhanging  herbage. 

Our  attention  was  entirely  engrossed  with  the 
spoor,  and  thus  we  rode  boldly  on  until  within  a 
few  feet  of  him,  when,  springing  to  his  feet,  he 
made  a  desperate  charge  after  Ruyter,  uttering  a 
low,  stifled  roar  peculiar  to  buffaloes  (somewhat 
similar  to  the  growl  of  a  lion),  and  hurled  horse 
and  rider  to  the  earth  with  fearful  violence.  His 
horn  laid  the  poor  horse's  haunch  open  to  the 
bone,  making  the  most  fearful  ragged  wound.  In 
an  instant  Ruyter  regained  his  feet  and  ran  for 
his  life,  while  the  buffalo  observing,  gave  chase, 
but  most  fortunately  came  down  with  a  tremen- 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  —  GIRAFFES     367 

dous  somersault  in  the  mud,  his  feet  slipping  from 
under  him:  thus  the  Bushman  escaped  certain  de- 
struction. The  buffalo  rose  much  discomfited, 
and,  the  wounded  horse  first  catching  his  eye,  he 
went  a  second  time  after  him,  but  he  got  out  of  the 
way.  At  this  moment  I  managed  to  send  one  of 
my  patent  pacificating  pills  into  his  shoulder,  when 
he  instantly  quitted  the  field  of  action,  and  sought 
shelter  in  the  dense  cover  on  the  mountain  side, 
whither  I  deemed  it  imprudent  to  follow  him. 

On  the  28th  we  marched  at  sunrise,  when  one  of 
my  wagon-drivers  chose  to  turn  his  wagon  too 
short,  in  opposition  to  my  orders,  whereby  it  was 
very  nearly  upset,  for  which  I  flogged  him  with  a 
sjambok,  and  then  knocked  him  down.  This  man's 
name  was  Adonis ;  he  was  a  determined  old  sinner, 
on  whom  words  had  no  effect. 

Our  course  lay  through  a  wide,  well-wooded 
strath,  beautifully  varied  with  open  glades.  As  we 
proceeded,  fresh  spoor  of  buffalo  and  camelopard 
became  abundant,  and  about  breakfast-time,  as  we 
were  crossing  an  elevated  slope  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  Ngotwani,  I  had  the  felicity  to  detect  a  mag- 
nificent herd  of  the  latter  browsing  in  the  middle 
of  the  strath  about  half  a  mile  to  our  left. 

As  I  had  enjoyed  very  little  sport  with  camelo- 
pard either  in  this  or  the  last  expedition,  my  time 
and  attention  having  always  been  engrossed  with 


368  THE  LION  HUNTER 

elephants,  I  resolved  to  avail  myself  of  this  op- 
portunity, and  accordingly,  having  caught  a  couple 
of  my  mares,  I  rode  for  them,  accompanied  by  Booi 
as  after-rider.  I  had  directed  my  men  to  out- 
span,  and  my  intention  was,  if  possible,  to  hunt 
one  of  the  camelopards  to  my  camp ;  but  in  this  I 
failed.  On  disturbing  the  herd  they  separated 
into  two  divisions,  one  of  which  took  right  away 
down  the  wind,  being  a  tail-on-end  chase  from  my 
camp;  the  finest  bull  went  with  this  division,  and 
him  I  followed.  After  a  sharp  burst  of  about  a 
mile,  I  headed  and  laid  him  low  with  two  shots 
behind  the  shoulder. 

Having  cut  off  his  tail,  we  were  returning  to 
camp,  and  had  proceeded  about  half  way,  when 
we  came  upon  the  other  division  of  the  herd.  They 
were  browsing  quietly  in  company  with  a  large 
herd  of  zebras  ;  and  observing  among  them  another 
princely  old  bull,  nothing  short  of  the  one  I  had 
already  killed,  I  was  tempted  once  more  to  give 
chase,  and,  directing  Booi  to  go  home  with  the 
tail,  I  spurred  my  little  mare,  and  dashed  after  the 
lofty  giraffe.  In  vain  he  sought  the  thickest 
depths  of  cover  which  the  strath  afforded,  and  put 
out  the  very  utmost  speed  which  he  could  muster. 
I  followed  close  in  his  wake,  and,  after  a  hard 
chase  of  about  a  mile  over  very  rough  ground,  we 
gained  a  piece  of  hard  level.  Here  I  pressed  my 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  —  GIRAFFES     369 

mare,  and,  getting  close  in  under  his  stern,  fired 
at  the  gallop,  and  sent  a  bullet  into  him,  and  then 
passed ;  in  doing  which  I  tried  to  fire  a  second  shot, 
but  my  gun  snapped. 

I  had  now  headed  the  camelopard,  so  he  altered 
his  course  and  held  away  at  a  right  angle  across 
the  level  strath.  A  fresh  cap  was  soon  placed 
upon  the  nipple,  when,  pressing  my  mare,  I  once 
more  rode  past  him.  In  passing,  I  held  my  stock 
in  my  waist  and  fired:  the  ball  entered  behind  the 
shoulder,  and  ended  the  career  of  this  gigantic 
and  exquisitely  beautiful  habitant  of  the  forest. 
Having  run  a  few  yards  further,  his  lofty  frame 
tottered  for  a  moment,  when  he  came  down  with  a 
crash  which  made  the  earth  tremble. 

On  the  4th  of  December  we  inspanned  at  sunrise 
and  marched  to  the  Ngotwani,  which  we  crossed 
after  an  hour  of  hard  work  in  making  a  road, 
having  to  remove  some  immense  masses  of  rock,  to 
cut  down  the  banks  with  spades,  and  to  throw 
some  thorn-trees.  In  the  afternoon  I  again 
marched,  and  halted  at  sundown  within  a  few  miles 
of  my  old  spoor  near  the  Poort  or  Pass  of  God. 
As  the  wagons  were  drawing  up  for  the  night  a 
borele  was  detected,  which  Present  and  Carey 
stalked,  and  got  within  thirty  yards,  and  then  both 
fired  and  returned,  stating  that  they  had  broken  his 
shoulder. 


370  THE  LION  HUNTER 

Accordingly,  on  the  following  morning,  I  pro- 
ceeded to  take  up  the  spoor  of  the  wounded  borele 
of  the  preceding  evening,  accompanied  by  Ruyter, 
and  very  soon  found  that  he  was  very  little  the 
worse  for  his  wound.  The  spoor  led  me  for 
several  miles  close  along  under  the  mountain  range 
to  my  right,  and  at  length  up  into  a  long,  well- 
wooded  basin  in  the  mountains.  I  observed  that 
two  lions,  having  detected  the  blood,  were  spoor- 
ing up  the  borele;  they  had  followed  him  up  and 
driven  him  away  from  his  lair,  and  had  then  lain 
down  for  the  day. 

When  I  came  up  I  was  within  twenty  yards  of 
the  lions  before  I  was  aware  of  their  proximity. 
Observing  me,  they  sprang  to  their  feet,  and, 
growling  sulkily,  trotted  up  the  mountain  side. 
I  only  saw  one  of  them  at  first,  and  ran  forward 
for  a  shot.  Having  ascended  the  steep  a  short 
distance,  the  lion  halted  to  have  a  look,  giving  me 
a  fine  broadside,  when  I  shot  him  through  the 
heart.  On  receiving  the  ball  he  bounded  forward, 
and  was  instantly  obscured  by  the  trees.  I  ad- 
vanced cautiously,  and  next  moment  the  other 
lion  sprang  up  with  a  growl,  and  marched  with  an 
air  of  most  consummate  independence  up  the  moun- 
tain side. 

I  imagined  that  this  lion  was  the  one  I  had  fired 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  —  GIRAFFES     371 

at,  and  sent  two  more  shots  at  him,  both  of  which 
were  too  high;  after  which  he  disappeared  over 
a  ridge  immediately  above.  On  proceeding  to  in- 
spect the  spot  where  the  lion  had  been  lying,  I 
found  that  there  were  two  beds,  consequently  that 
there  must  have  been  two  lions,  and  I  conjectured 
that  I  had  killed  one  of  them.  In  case,  however, 
he  should  be  only  wounded,  I  deemed  it  prudent  to 
ride  down  to  the  wagons,  which  were  then  passing 
below  me,  to  obtain  some  dogs  to  pioneer.  Having 
procured  these,  I  and  Ruyter  returned  to  the  spot, 
and  found  the  lion  lying  dead  on  the  mountain  side. 
We  proceeded  to  skin  him,  and  returned  to  the 
wagons  with  the  spoils.  The  other  decamped ;  the 
dogs  could  not  find  him.  Both  of  these  were  first- 
rate  old  lions,  but  the  one  that  escaped  was  the 
larger  of  the  two.  In  the  afternoon  I  rode  on  to 
Sichely's  kraal  on  the  Kouloubeng,  having  directed 
my  men  to  follow  with  the  wagons. 

On  arriving  at  the  station,  I  found  that  Mr. 
Livingstone  had  left  that  morning  to  visit  a  tribe 
to  the  east  of  the  Limpopo.  I  waited  upon  Mrs. 
Livingstone,  who  regaled  me  with  tea  and  bread 
and  butter,  and  gave  me  all  the  news.  I  re- 
mained a  week  in  the  station,  and  on  the  12th  I 
inspanned.  At  sundown  we  halted  near  the  Pass 
of  God,  intending  to  hunt  sable  antelope,  having 


378  THE  LION  HUNTER 

seen  a  small  troop  of  them  in  the  month  of  May 
on  a  steep  mountain  side,  beneath  which  I  formed 
my  camp. 

Next  morning  I  rode  through  the  Pass  of  God 
and  held  west,  accompanied  by  my  two  after- 
riders.  I  rode  to  within  a  couple  of  miles  of  the 
Kouloubeng,  and  returned  close  in  under  the  moun- 
tain chain  to  the  south  of  the  pass.  I  went  forth 
on  foot,  accompanied  by  Ruyter,  and  ascended  the 
mountain  immediately  above  my  camp  to  seek  for 
sable  antelope.  I  had  the  satisfaction  to  discover 
the  spoor  of  three  bucks  on  a  piece  of  rocky  table- 
ground  on  the  highest  summit  of  the  range,  and 
soon  after  I  started  a  princely  old  buck  from  his 
lair.  He  was  lying  in  long  grass  in  a  sandy  spot 
behind  a  bush,  within  eighty  yards  of  me.  Start- 
ing from  his  mountain  bed,  this  gem  of  beauty 
rattled  up  a  rocky  slope  beside  which  he  had  been 
lying,  and,  halting  for  a  moment,  looked  back  to 
see  what  had  disturbed  him,  when  I  sent  a  bullet 
through  his  ribs,  and,  as  he  disappeared  over  the 
ridge,  lodged  another  in  his  vitals. 

Having  loaded,  I  followed  on  the  spoor,  and 
soon  observed  him  within  a  hundred  and  fifty  yards 
of  me,  standing  in  a  green  hollow  far  below, 
whisking  his  tail,  and  evidently  severely  wounded. 
A  strong  breeze  which  was  then  blowing  was  against 
me,  as  it  shook  a  young  tree  of  which  I  wished  to 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  —  GIRAFFES     373 

avail  myself  for  a  rest.  I  nevertheless  managed 
to  make  a  fine  shot,  and  sent  a  bullet  through  the 
center  of  his  shoulder,  bringing  him  down  on  his 
face,  and  laming  him.  The  potaquaine  disap- 
peared down  the  wooded  mountain  side  over  a 
rocky  ridge,  but  no  rude  fears  agitated  my  breast ; 
I  had  lamed  him,  and  that  was  enough:  if  stalking 
should  fail,  there  were  dogs  at  my  wagons  that 
could  very  soon  bring  him  to  bay.  I  did  not, 
however,  wish  to  be  put  to  the  trouble  of  sending 
for  the  dogs,  and  continued  to  follow  on  his  spoor 
with  extreme  caution. 

He  had  only  gone  a  short  distance  down  the  hill 
when  I  found  him  without  his  seeing  me,  and,  after 
a  successful  stalk,  I  finished  him  with  three  more 
shots,  two  of  which  were  in  his  stern.  This  was 
a  most  splendid  specimen  of  this  very  rare  and 
most  lovely  antelope;  his  horns  were  enormous, 
very  long,  rough,  and  perfect.  Having  cut  off  the 
head  for  stuffing,  and  gralloched  him,  we  covered 
him  with  many  green  boughs  and  returned  to  camp, 
whence  I  dispatched  a  party  for  the  venison  and 
the  skin,  which  I  preserved.  .  .  . 

My  losses  in  cattle  this  year  were  very  con- 
siderable. Up  to  this  time  fourteen  horses  and 
fifteen  head  of  cattle  had  died,  making  my  losses 
in  all  four  expeditions  into  the  far  interior  amount 
to  forty-five  horses  and  seventy  head  of  cattle,  the 


374.  THE  LION  HUNTER 

value  of  these  being  at  least  £600.  I  also  lost 
about  seventy  of  my  dogs.  .  .  . 

[On  the  return  of  this  expedition,  Bloem  Von- 
teyn  —  Bloem-Fontein  —  was  reached  February 
1st.  At  the  Great  Orange  River  the  Dutch  had 
contracted  a  float  for  ferrying.  The  stream  was 
high  and  swift. — Ed.~\ 

On  the  14th  of  March  with  much  difficulty,  we 
got  over  the  cable  by  which  the  raft  was  worked, 
and  the  Boers,  by  way  of  experiment,  loaded  her 
up  with  a  party  of  Bechuana  Caffres,  and  en- 
deavored to  cross  the  river.  There  was  a  small 
boat  attached  to  the  float.  When  they  had  got 
about  half  way  across,  the  water  rose  partially 
over  the  float,  when  a  panic  came  over  both  the 
Boers  and  Bechuanas,  and  a  rush  was  made  into  the 
little  boat.  A  capsize  was  the  consequence;  and 
at  the  same  moment,  the  rope  which  attached  the 
boat  to  the  float  parted.  The  unfortunate  men 
were  then  swept  away  down  the  rapid  current; 
and  of  twenty-seven  men  who  were  on  board  of  the 
punt,  four  only  escaped.  Two  of  those  who  were 
drowned  were  Boers. 

After  this  accident  I  directed  my  men,  who  were 
in  an  isolated  position  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river,  to  inspan  and  remove  down  to  NorvaPs  boat, 
below  Alleman's  Drift,  where  I  met  them  with  the 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  —  GIRAFFES     375 

cap-tent  wagon ;  and  at  sundown  next  day  we  had 
safely  ferried  over  the  other  two  wagons,  and  en- 
camped once  more  on  British  territory. 

The  ferrying  was  a  very  laborious  proceeding, 
each  wagon  having  to  be  off-loaded,  and  then  taken 
to  pieces,  and  so  brought  over,  bit  by  bit;  the 
oxen  and  horses,  &c.,  swam  the  river.  My  wagons 
were  now  all  safely  across ;  so,  after  loading  them, 
we  marched  on  the  18th,  about  10  A.  M.  At  sun- 
down we  entered  the  town  of  Colesberg,  and  drew 
up  opposite  to  the  old  barracks,  having  been  absent 
exactly  twelve  months. 

As  my  wagons  advanced  into  the  town,  the  news 
of  our  arrival  spread  like  wildfire,  and  multitudes 
both  of  men  and  good-looking  young  women  rushed 
to  see  the  old  elephant  hunter,  who  had  been 
mourned  as  dead.  We  were  soon  surrounded  by 
nearly  one  half  of  the  population,  who  mobbed  us 
until  night  setting  in  dispersed  them  to  their 
homes. 

My  friend  Mr.  Orpen,  being  blessed  by  nature 
with  an  excellent  constitution,  had  considerably  re- 
covered from  the  dreadful  wounds  which  he  re- 
ceived from  the  leopard  on  the  banks  of  the 
Limpopo,  but  was  still,  I  regret  to  say,  obliged 
to  carry  his  arms  in  slings.  His  father,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Orpen,  of  Colesberg,  informed  me  that  he  had 


376  THE  LION  HUNTER 

great  hope  of  restoring  his  arms  to  their  former 
state,  even  at  that  late  period,  but  of  this  I  could 
not  help  being  very  doubtful. 

During  my  stay  in  Colesberg  I  had  much 
pleasure  in  meeting  my  friend  Mr.  Oswell,*  of  the 
Honorable  East  India  Company's  Service.  He 
was  then  en  route  for  the  far  interior,  intending 
to  penetrate  the  Kalihara  in  a  northwesterly  direc- 
tion, and  visit  the  lake  of  boats.  This  was  an  ex- 
pedition which  I  myself  had  often  thought  of  mak- 
ing, but  a  limited  finance,  and  my  fancy  for  col- 
lecting objects  of  natural  history,  led  me  to  in- 
cline my  course  to  the  more  verdant  forests  of  the 
East,  where  I  deemed  I  could  more  certainly  first 
collect,  and  then  export,  the  precious  spoils  of  the 
elephant.  Mr.  Oswell  being  in  want  of  draught 
oxen,  I  permitted  him  to  select  as  many  as  he  re- 
quired from  my  extensive  stock,  with  which  he 
shortly  set  out,  in  company  with  Mr.  Murray,  on 
his  interesting  journey  of  discovery. 

I  was  occupied  in  Colesberg  till  the  12th  of 
April,  when  I  marched  to  "  Cuil  Vonteyn,"  a  farm 
belongong  to  a  Mrs.  Van  Blerk,  which  I  reached  in 
about  three  hours ;  the  country  all  karroo,  herds  of 
springboks  feeding  in  sight  of  the  house.  Here  I 
found  nine  heavily-laden  wagons  drawn  up,  which  I 

*  William  Cotton  Oswell,  a  famous  hunter  of  big  game. 
— Ed. 


LIONS  —  BUFFALOES  —  GIRAFFES     377 

had  hired  and  laden  up  to  transport  my  collection 
of  hunting  trophies  to  the  sea. 

When  I  entered  Colesberg  I  had  almost  made  up 
my  mind  to  make  another  shooting  expedition  into 
the  interior;  but  a  combination  of  circumstances 
induced  me  at  length  to  leave  Africa  for  a  season, 
and  revisit  my  native  land.  I  felt  much  sorrow 
and  reluctance  in  coming  to  this  resolution;  for, 
although  I  had  now  spent  the  greater  part  of  five 
seasons  in  hunting  in  the  far  interior  the  various 
game  of  Southern  Africa,  I  nevertheless  did  not  feel 
in  the  slightest  degree  satiated  with  the  sport  which 
it  afforded.  On  the  contrary,  the  wild,  free, 
healthy,  roaming  life  of  a  hunter  had  grown  upon 
me,  and  I  loved  it  more  and  more. 

I  could  not  help  confessing  to  myself,  however, 
that  in  the  most  laborious  yet  noble  pursuit  of 
elephant  hunting  I  was  over-taxing  my  frame  and 
too  rapidly  wearing  down  my  constitution.  More- 
over, the  time  required  to  reach  those  extremely 
distant  lands  frequented  by  the  elephant  was  so 
great  that  it  consumed  nearly  one  half  of  the 
season  in  going  and  returning,  and  I  ever  found 
that  my  dogs  and  horses  had  lost  much  of  their 
spirit  by  the  time  they  reached  those  very  remote 
districts.  My  nerves  and  constitution  were  con- 
siderably shaken  by  the  power  of  a  scorching 
African  sun,  and  I  considered  that  a  voyage  to 


S78  THE  LION  HUNTER 

England  would  greatly  recruit  my  powers,  and 
that  on  returning  I  should  renew  my  pursuits  with 
increased  zest. 

Having  thus  resolved  to  leave  the  colony,  I 
directed  my  march  toward  Port  Elizabeth,  by  way 
of  Graff  Reinett,  crossing  the  bold  mountain  range 
of  Snewberg.  On  the  10th  of  May  I  reached  the 
shores  of  the  ocean,  which  Ruyter  and  others  of  my 
followers,  now  beholding  for  the  first  time,  gazed 
upon  with  wonder  and  with  awe.  On  the  19th  I 
took  my  passage  for  Old  England  in  the  bark 
"  Augusta."  My  valuable  collection  of  trophies 
and  my  Cape  wagon,  weighing  all  together  upward 
of  thirty  tons,  were  then  carefully  shipped,  and  on 
the  7th  of  June  I  set  sail  (my  little  Bushman  ac- 
companying me)  for  my  native  land,  after  a  so- 
journ of  nearly  five  years  in  the  wild  hunting- 
grounds  of  Southern  Africa. 


THJK  xm> 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

Return  this  material  to  the  library 

from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


SRLF     n_ 

2  WEEK    DEC  04  989 


A     000126346     6 


